LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA.   . 

%eceived      JAN     4    1893     '  ^^9 
^Accessions  No.  H^i'^^O  .  Class  No. 


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THE 


CHILD  AND  CHILD-NATUEE. 


THE  BARONESS  MARENHOLTZ-BUELOW, 

Author  op  "  Hand-work  and  Head-work,"  etc. 


FIRST  AMERICAN  FROM  THE  SECOND  LONDON  EDITION,  WITH 
ADDITION  OF  AN  INDEX. 


SYRACUSE,    ^.    Y.  : 

C.   W.    BARDEEN,   PUBLISHER. 

1889. 


Copyright,  1889,  by  C.  W.  Bardeen. 
i^*"   at  THB        ■ 

UKI7BRSIT7] 


LB 


l|Cj^-fO 


AUTHORESS'  PREFACE  TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION. 


Part  of  the  following  Essays  have  already  appeared  in  the 
journal  entitled  "  Erziehnng  der  Gegenwart "  (Berlin,  Enslin, 
1861,  1862),  prepared  by  me,  and  edited  by  Karl  Schmidt, 
Councillor  of  Education,  which  work  being  now  out  of  print, 
-a,  republication  of  the  Essays  may  be  acceptable.  The  remain- 
ing part  has  been  added  quite  lately. 

D.  B. 

Berlin,  May,  1868. 


AUTHORESS'  PEEFACE  TO  THE  SECOND  EDITION. 


The  present  edition  appears  nnaltered,  and  will,  we  liope^ 
meet  with  the  same  reception  as  did  the  first,  especially  in 
the  circle  of  Kindergarten  teachers. 

Although,  since  the  first  appearance  of  this  work,  the  spread 
of  Kindergartens  may  have  made  important  progress,  the  same 
cannot  be  said  of  the  understanding  of  Frobel's  principles. 

These,  on  the  contrary,  have  become  more  and  more  per- 
verted by  the  continually  increasing  number  of  incompetent 
persons  who  have  attempted  to  carry  them  out,  and  need 
on  this  account  renewed  interpretation.  It  is  to  this  end- 
that  the  second  edition  of  this  work  will  be  devoted. 

D.  B. 
Dbksdek,  May,  1878. 


Uiri7BIlSIT7] 
TRANSLATOR'S   PREFACE 


The  book,  of  which  the  following  pages  are  a  translation,  has  for 
its  object  to  promote  a  more  thorough  and  universal  under- 
standing of  the  theories  and  philosophy  on  which  Frobel's 
educational  system  is  based. 

In  tbeir  outward  embodiment  of  Kindergarten  schools,  ap- 
proaching more  or  less  incompletely  to  the  original  conception 
of  the  founder  of  the  system,  these  theories  have  been  gaining 
for  some  time  past  increasing  acceptance  in  England.  But 
while  Kindergartens  are  multiplying,  and  Kindergarten  teachers 
are  being  trained  in  greater  and  greater  numbers,  and  parents 
and  children  are  rejoicing  in  the  discovery  that  lessons  and  tears 
have  no  necessary  connection  with  each  other,  there  is  still  great 
and  prevailing  ignorance  as  to  what  is  the  real  meaning  of  this 
educational  revolution,  or  indeed  as  to  whether  there  be  any 
meaning  in  it  at  all,  beyond  the  idea  that  it  is  better  to  make 
children's  lessons  pleasant  rather  than  unpleasant,  and  that  it  is 
a  good  thing  to  teach  them  to  use  their  hands. 

It  is  a  generally  accepted  fact  that  boys  and  girls  inust  be 
educated,  that  is  to  say,  must  be  taught  to  do  certain  things 
and  hnoiv  certain  others  in  order  that  when  they  are  grown  up 
they  may  get  on  in  the  world  and  be  like  other  people — or  if 
possible  superior  to  them.  This  process  of  education  must  of 
course  begin  at  some  time  or  other,  and  natural  and  artificial 
causes  combined  have  resulted  in  the  universal  acknowledgment 
that  it  should  begin  as  early  in  life  as  possible.  Children, 
however,  have  always  shown  a  perverse  preference  for  play 
rather  than  lessons.  Dolls,  boxes  of  bricks,  nursery -rhymes, 
&c.,  have  invariably  had  a  greater    power   of  fascination  for 


iv  Translator  s  Preface. 

their  joung  minds  than  A  B  C  's  and  spelling-books,  or  the 
most  elegantly  traced  pot-hooks  and  copy-book  maxims.  Most 
of  us  can  remember  a  time  when  our  deepest  feelings  were 
expressed  in  the  lines  : 

**  Multiplication  is  vexation, 
Division  is  as  bad  ; 
The  Rule  of  Three  doth  puzzle  me, 
And  Practice  drives  me  mad." 

And  so  lesson-time  has  been  wont  to  be  for  children  a  time 
of  tears  and  punishment  and  longing  to  have  done,  and,  as  a 
rule,  not  till  the  season  for  learning  has  passed  do  we  see  much 
desire  for  it. 

But  Frobel  has  changed  all  this.  He  has  not  said  that  educa- 
tion should  not  begin  so  soon — on  the  contrary,  according  to  him 
it  ought  to  begin  from  the  cradle — but  he  has  said  that  children 
must  not  be  made  unhappy  over  their  lessons,  and  he  has  given 
to  the  world  a  system  by  which  he  guarantees  that  both  these  ends 
shall  be  accomplished.  And  though  some  mothers  are  not  quite 
Sc.ie  whether  their  children  learn  what  is  most  necessary  at 
Kindergartens,  and  "  get  on  fast  enough,"  and  some  think  there 
is  too  much  system  for  little  children,  some  again  that  there  is 
too  much  plaij^  still  the  children  are  happy,  and  that  is  the 
chief  thing. 

Frobel,  however,  means  a  great  deal  more  than  this,  as  will 
be  seen  by  a  study  of  the  Baroness  von  Bulow's  full  and  detailed 
exposition  of  his  theories  and  philosophy.  How  far  these  are 
already  understood  in  England  I  am  not  able  fully  to  estimate, 
for  I  have  had  no  personal  experience  of  or  connection  with 
Kindergartens,  and  have  not  been  in  the  way  of  hearing  much 
about  them  ;  nor,  until  I  was  asked  if  I  would  undertake  the 
translation  of  this  book,  had  I  given  the  matter  any  serious 
attention.  I  certainly  had  very  little  idea  myself  of  the  way  in 
which  Frobel  had  arrived  at  his  system,  or  of  what  were  the 
fundamental  principles  underlying  it,  and  my  attitude  towards 
it  was  of  a  very  uncertain  nature.  Whilst  engaged  on  this 
translation,  however,  I  have  occasionally  talked  about  the  book 
to  people  in   different  ways    connected  with    or   interested  in 


Translator  s  Preface. 


Kindergartens,  and  have  generally  found  that  the  essential 
ideas  expounded  in  it  were  quite  new  to  them — new  i,e.  in 
their  application  to  the  education  of  children. 

Whether  a  more  profound  and  universal  comprehension  of 
Fiobel's  educational  theories  will  at  once  have  the  effect  of 
making  Kindergartens  more  popular  is,  I  think,  doubtful. 
Those  parents  and  teachers  who  have  had  misgivings  as  to 
the  preponderance  of  play  in  this  mode  of  education  will, 
perliaps,  be  relieved  to  find  how  serious  a  view  Frobel  took 
of  the  meaning  and  use  of  children's  play ;  but  those  who 
have  already  rather  inclined  to  find  fault  with  the  excess  of 
systematizing,  as  likely  to  suppress  all  originality  in  children, 
and  turn  them  into  machines  incaj^able  of  acting  when  the 
guiding  hand  has  been  removed,  will  possibly  learn  with 
dismay  that  there  is  even  more  system  than  they  thought;  and 
those  for  whom  Kindergartens  have  as  yet  had  no  attraction, 
and  who  have  been  content  to  go  on  teaching  and  getting  tlioir 
children  taught  in  old  established  ways,  acknowledging  that 
education  is  of  course  a  very  important,  indeed  the  most 
important  matter,  and  that  a  certain  amount  of  method  in  it  is 
undoubtedly  desirable ;  but  that  even  here  one  may  go  too  far, 
and  that  after  all  those  children  often  turn  out  best  who  are 
not  too  much  looked  after,  &c.,  &c.,  these,  doubtless,  wilJ,  many 
of  them,  regard  this  book  as  a  tissue  of  far-fetched  absurdi- 
ties. They  may  often  have  been  perplexed  by  the  difficulty, 
or  rather  the  impossibility,  of  knowing  how  far  their  children 
really  understood  and  were  benefiting  by  what  was  being 
taught  them,  and  have  wondered  to  what  extent  it  is  desirable 
(to  some  extent  it  is  unavoidable)  to  store  the  memory  with 
facts  and  ideas  beyond  the  power  of  the  mind  to  deal  with 
and  assimilate ;  they  may  often  have  wished  that  they  could 
look  into  their  children's  minds  and  see  clearly  the  processes 
going  on  there,  but  they  will  not  necessarily  believe  Frobel 
wlien  he  undertakes  to  lay  bare  these  processes,  and  asserts  that 
in  the  analogy  which  can  be  traced  between  the  development 
of  the  individual  human  being  and  that  of  the  race  lies  the 
clue  to  the  insight  they  desire.  That  as  mankind  in  its  infancy 
had  no  apprehension  of  abstract  spiritual  ideas,  and  only  took 


vi  Tra7islator' s  Preface. 


in  knowledge  in  a  concrete  form  through  the  bodily  senses^ 
without  any  conscious  co-operation  of  the  mind,  so  is  it  with 
human  beings  in  their  infancy,  and  that  consequently  children 
must  not  be  troubled  with  abstract  ideas  and  symbolic  methods, 
such  as  reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  &c.,  until  by  means  of 
their  outward  senses,  properly  trained  and  guided,  they  have- 
obtained  more  or  less  distinct  impressions  of  the  truths  which 
these  symbols  represent  and  treat  of.  Then  with  regard  to 
what  is  most  important  for  children  to  learn,  since  they  cannot 
learn  everything,  what  is  the  best  plan  to  pursue,  since  we  can- 
not dispense  altogether  with  plans  and  systems,  parents  and 
teachers  may  often  have  felt  sorely  perplexed  ;  but  FrobeFs 
solution  of  the  difficulty  is  not  likely  to  be  at  once  universally 
welcomed :  on  the  contrary,  it  will  probably  seem  to  many 
people  a  very  far-fetched  one,  to  say  the  least.  Such  phrases 
as  "the  continuity  and  inter-connection  of  all  things  in 
the  universe,"  "  the  unity  of  development  in  all  life,  organic- 
and  inorganic,"  "  the  development  of  humanity  into  an  har- 
monious whole  at  unity  with  God,"  "  the  training  of  human 
beings  in  this  life  for  a  higher  state  of  existence  hereafter,"  are 
all  very  well  in  scientific  books  and  sermons, — many  people  Avill 
be  ready  to  exclaim, — "  but  they  are  rather  out  of  place  with 
regard  to  the  lessons  of  little  children.  Of  course  we  believe- 
that  this  life  is  a  preparation  for  another,  and  children  must  be 
taught  to  be  good  and  religious ;  but  we  know  little  or  nothing 
as  to  what  this  other  life  will  be,  and  meanwhile  here  we  are 
in  this  world,  and  we  must  get  on  in  it  as  best  we  can  and  fit 
our  children  for  getting  on  in  it." 

To  such  Frobel  would  have  answered,  "The  universe  of 
which  our  earth  and  its  inhabitants  are  a  part  is  a  complete,  con- 
tinuous whole,  and  all  things  in  it  the  work  of  the  same  Creator. 
There  are  no  breaks  in  this  universe,  but  everywhere  continuity 
and  connection.  Everywhere  we  see  lower  life  feeding  or  de-^ 
veloping  into  higher  life.  Man  is  no  exception  to  this  univer- 
sal law.  Every  child  that  is  bora  into  the  world  forms  part  of 
the  scheme  of  the  universe  and  is  subject  to  its  laws.  His  life 
in  childhood  and  youth  is  the  germ  out  of  which  the  life  of 
his  manhood   and  old   age  will  develop,  and  his  life  in  a  higher- 


Translators  Preface,  vii 


state  of  existence  will  be  the  outcome  of  his  whole  life  here. 
The  end  depends  on  the  beginning.  If  you  wish,  therefore,  to 
make  a  right  beginning  you  must  keep  the  end  in  view  from 
the  very  first ;  otherwise,  when  you  have  already  proceeded  a 
considerable  way,  you  may  find  that  you  have  been  moving  all 
the  time  in  a  wrong  direction,  and  that  you  have  toreti'ace  your 
steps  and  make  a  fresh  start  with  time  and  strength  wasted 
and  diminished.  What  your  children  ought  to  learn,  how  they 
should  be  educated,  is  no  arbitrary  matter  dependent  on  arti- 
ficial passing  fashion  ;  it  depends  on  the  fundamental  princi- 
ples of  the  universe,  of  which  human  nature  (and  therefore 
child-nature  too)  is  a  part — on  the  eternal  laws  of  God,  which 
are  revealed  to  us  in  the  life  of  nature  and  of  man.  There  can  be 
no  true  basis  of  education,  no  right  training  and  teaching  of  little 
children,  if  these  laws  and  principles  be  not  taken  into  account, 
any  more  than  the  tiniest  plant  could  attain  perfection  if  the 
gardener  tried  to  re.ar  it  without  regard  to  its  dependence  on  the 
sun,  saying, — 'What  can  such  an  immense  globe  so  many  millions 
of  miles  away  have  to  do  with  this  insigniucant  little  primrose? ' 
You,  who  complain  of  my  passion  for  sy>stem,  have  you  ever 
really  considered  what  it  is  that  you  are  objecting  to  ?  Develop- 
ment, growth,  according  to  a  systematic  plan,  is  not  an  invention 
of  mine  ;  it  is  the  Divine  order  of  the  universe,  and  do  what  you 
wall  you  cannot  escape  from  it.  Do  you  think,  moreover,  you 
would  gain  anything  if  you  could  ?  Do  you  imagine  that  you 
would  be  freer,  more  original  and  individual,  if  this  order  or 
system  by  which  you  are  surrounded  were  suddenly  changed 
into  chaos  ?  You  say  that  you  are  afraid  systematized  training 
will  '  crush  originality,'  '  stamp  out  individuality,'  by  which 
terms  I  suppose  you  mean  that  in  which  one  human  being 
differs  from  another  in  character  and  capacities.  Do  you  find 
that  the  plants,  animals,  &c.,  which  grow  up  under  the  same 
systematic  influences  of  Nature  become  all  exactly  alike  ?  In 
so  far  as  my  method  of  education  is,  as  I  meant  it  to  be,  in 
harmony  with  the  system  of  Nature,  far  from  stamping  out 
individuality,  it  will  only  serve  to  increase  it,  by  affording  oppor- 
tunity for  development  to  all  the  different  powers  of  different 
human  beings  from  their  earliest  infancy.     My  object  has  bceit 


viii  Translator  s  Preface. 

to  devise  a  plan  by  which  children  shall  be  surrounded  from 
their  cradles  by  those  conditions  and  influences  which,  after  long 
and  careful  study  of  the  laws  of  human  nature  and  its  develop- 
ment, I  have  found  to  be  essential  for  the  unfolding  of  all  the 
natural  powers  which  children  bring  with  them  into  the  world. 
Many  mothers  will  reply  indignantly  that  they  can  understand 
their  children's  natures  and  requirements  without  long  and  care- 
ful study,  and  that  they  are  the  most  natural  and  fit  people  to 
train  them.  They  may  be  the  most  natural,  but  they  certainly 
have  not  always  shown  themselves  the  most  fit.  No  one  can 
take  a  higher  or  more  serious  view  than  I  do  of  the 
mother's  part  in  the  education  of  children,  but  mothers,  like 
everything  else  in  the  world,  are  more  or  less  imperfect,  and 
the  best  of  them  will  be  the  first  to  own  that  they  cannot 
altogether  dispense  with  help  and  guidance." 

Frobel  does  not  claim  for  himself,  nor  is  it  claimed  for  him, 
that  these  ideas  are  new  discoveries  of  his ;  but  he  has  been  the 
first  to  make  tliem  the  basis  of  a  system  of  education.  How- 
ever much  opinion  may  differ  as  to  the  details  of  this  system, 
however  absurd  even,  and  impracticable,  much  of  it  may  appear 
at  first,  no  one,  I  think,  who  professes  (as  most  of  us  do)  to  agree 
with  Frobel's  theories  of  man's  part  in  the  universe  and  his  final 
destiny,  can  consistently  refuse  to  acknowledge  that  the  central 
principle  of  Kindergartens  is  a  right  one.  And  if  the  central 
principle  be  right,  and  rightly  understood,  the  details  will  grad- 
ually shape  themselves  more  and  more  perfectly  around  it,  and 
all  that  is  really  absurd  and  unnecessary  will  in  time  fall  away, 

Frobel's  leading  ideas  in  their  intellectual  and  spiritual 
aspects  cannot,  I  think,  be  better  summed  up  than  in  the  follow- 
ing words  of  a  well-known  modem  preacher :  *  "  We  spoil  all 
this  divine  teaching  of  God  and  Nature  by  forcing  the  child  out 
of  his  unconsciousness  into  self-consciousness,  by  demanding 
of  him  reflection,  by  checking  the  joy  of  his  receptiveness  by 
too  much  teaching,  too  much  forcing.  Let  him  remain  for  a 
time  ignorant  of  himself,  and  abide  in  his  Heavenly  Father's 
hands  ;   let  him  live  naturally,  and  drink  in  his  ivisdom  and  his 

*  See  Stopford  Brooke's  Sermon,  "  Child  Life,"  in  the  volume  entitled 
"Christ  in  Modern  Life,"  p.  287. 


Translator  s  Preface.  ix 

religion  from  the  influences  whicli  God  makes  play  around  him. 
Above  all  do  not  demand  of  him,  as  many  do,  convictions  of  sin, 
nor  make  him  false  and  hysterical  by  calling  out  from  his  imita- 
tive nature  deep  spiritual  experiences  which  he  cannot  truly 
feel.  Let  him  begin  with  natural  religion  ;  leave  him  his  early 
joy  untainted ;  see  that  he  knows  Grod  as  love,  and  beauty,  and 
sympathy.  It  is  horrible  to  anticipate  for  him  the  days,  soon 
enough  to  come,  when  sorrow  and  sin  will  make  of  life  a  battle, 
where  victory  can  only  be  bought  by  pain." 

But  there  is  a  third  aspect  of  the  Kindergarten  system,  which, 
though  I  dwell  on  it  last,  is  the  one  to  which  Frobel  gives  the 
greatest  prominence  :  it  is  the  physical  development  of  children. 
True  to  his  central  idea  of  the  continuity  of  the  universe  and 
of  all  its  different  parts,  he  cannot  separate  the  human  body 
from  the  mind  and  soul  of  which  it  is  the  outward  expression. 
The  three  are  closely  bound  up  together,  and  must  be  treated 
accordingly.  But  in  thie  beginning  of  life  the  intellectual  and 
spiritual  natures  exist  only  in  the  germ,  and  the  physical  nature 
with  its  instincts  and  necessities  plays  the  prominent  part.  If, 
then,  education  is  to  act  as  a  guide  to  natural  development,  and 
not  as  a  hindrance,  it  must  take  this  fact  into  account,  and 
during  the  first  years  of  life  devote  itself  chiefly  to  calling  out 
and  cultivating  the  limbs  and  senses  which  are  intended  as 
organs  of  the  mind  and  spirit,  so  that  when  the  latter  begin  to 
act  they  may  have  fit  instruments  to  work  with. 

This  is  the  principle  underlying  all  the  "play  "  which  enters 
into  the  Kindergarten  system,  and  which  is  so  planned  that, 
while  it  develops  all  the  different  parts  of  the  body  in  a 
healthy  and  pleasurable  manner,  it  serves  also  by  various 
means,  such  as  rhythmical  movement,  dramatic  representa- 
tion, accompanying  song  and  narrative,  to  awaken  the  higher 
senses  and  faculties.  The  body,  while  receiving  from  the  first 
its  due  share  of  attention,  is  also  from  the  first  kept  in  sub- 
jection to  the  spirit. 

As  by  the  translation  of  this  book  I  consider  that  I  have 
associated  myself  with  the  Kindergarten  movement,  I  wish  to 
say  in  conclusion  how  thoroughly  I  have  become  convinced  of 
the  essential  merits  of  the  system,  and  how  much  I  hope  that  the 

^^"^F  THE 

UKIVBESITT] 


Translator  s  Preface. 


intrrduction  of  this  little  work  into  England  maj  contribute  to 
the  spread  of  Kindergarten  schools  and  teaching  among  us. 

For  the  English  version  of  some  of  the  songs  which  occur  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  book,  I  am  indebted  to  Miss  Amelia 
Gurney,  who  kindly  placed  at  my  disposal  an  unpublished 
translation  of  Frobel's  "Mutter  und  Koselieder."  Her  initials 
are  affixed  to  those  songs  and  mottoes  of  which  I  have  adopted 
her  translations. 

With  most  of  his  games  and  songs  Frobel  connects  a  motto 
which  explains  their  spirit  and  intention ;  the  following  lines  of 
Mr.  Browning's  seem  to  me  to  form  a  perfect  motto  to  the  whole 
system : 

Let  us  not  always  say, 

*'  Spite  of  this  flesh  to-day 

I  strove,  made  head,  gained  ground  upon  the  whole ! 

As  the  bird  wings  and  sings, 

Let  us  cry,  "All  good  things 

Are  ours,  nor  soul  helps  flesh  more,  now,  than  flesh  helps  soul." 

Therefore  I  summon  age 

To  grant 's  youth's  heritage, 

Life's  struggle  having  so  far  reached  its  term  : 

Thence  shall  I  pass,  approved 

A  man,  for  aye  removed 

From  the  developed  brute  ;  a  god  though  in  the  germ. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 


Ohapter  I.  Introductory,         -_-•-_  i 

IJ.  Child- Nature, 12 

III.  The  First  Utterances  of  the  Child,        -  25 

IV.  The  Requisites  of  Education  in  General,  40 
V.  Early  Childhood,          -        -        -        _  52 

VI.  FrobeFs  Method,  and  what  is  New  in  It,  68 

VII.  The  Kindergarten,        -         -         -         -  94 

VIII.  FrobeFs  '^  Mutter- und  Koselieder,''  105 

IX.  Earliest  Development  of  the  Limbs,     -  112 

X.  The  Child's  First  Relations  to  Nature,  116 

XL  The  Child's  First  Relations  to  Mankind,  127 

XIL  The  Child's  First  Relations  to  God,      -  158 

Conclusion, I34. 

(xi) 


>^  OV  THB     '■ 

'UiriVJBESITT] 


NEW  METHOD   OF  EDUCATION, 


CHAPTER   I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 


The  process  of  transformation  through  which,  human  society  is 
passing  at  the  present  day  necessitates  unquestionably  a  recon- 
struction of  our  educational  system. 

The  life  of  individuals,  like  that  of  the  whole  of  humanity, 
is  not  a  chance  following  one  upon  another  of  "  yesterday,  to- 
day, and  to-morrow,"  a  blind  game  at  dice,  which  apportions  to 
each  generation  its  lot  without  care  or  forethought ;  it  is,  on 
the  contrary,  a  connected  whole,  and  just  as  much  governed 
and  developed  according  to  eternal  laws  as  is  the  microscopic 
world  contained  in  a  drop  of  water,  or  the  countless  solar 
systems  of  the  cosmic  universe,  or  the  distant  nebulae  which 
the  telescope  renders  visible  to  us. 

Human  society  is  an  organism,  the  separate  parts  of  which 
cannot  be  worked  upon  in  an  isolated  manner.  Whatever  affects 
one  member  of  this  society  affects  all  the  other  members,  and 
consequently  the  organism  as  a  whole.  Great  political  revolu- 
tions, state  changes,  the  discovery  of  fresh  truths,  of  deeper 
knowledge,  not  only  alter  the  face  of  a  particular  limited  area, 
of  society,  but  bring  about  changes,  or,  we  would  rather  say, 
improvements,  progress,  greater  or  less,  in  all  departments  of 

s 


A  New  Method  of  Education, 


human  life.  And,  if  there  is  one  department  of  which  this  may 
be  said  more  emphatically  than  of  any  other,  it  is  that  of  Edu- 
cation, 

Education  is  concerned  with  the  preparation  for  life  in  a 
human  society  of  which  the  conditions  are  in  a  perpetual  state 
of  change  and  modification.  Her  office  is  to  prepare  each 
individual  for  future  activity  in  this  society,  and  she  is  to  a 
certain  extent  answerable  for  the  blessing  or  the  curse  which 
respectively  follows  on  a  rational  or  an  irrational  training  for  life. 
Hence  it  is  not  enough  that  she  should  have  mastered  the  cir- 
cumstances and  conditions  of  life  by  which  her  pupils  are  sur- 
rounded in  the  present ;  she  must  also  be  able  to  look  forward 
with  prophetic  grasp  to  the  altered  conditions  in  which  their 
manhood  or  womanhood  will  be  spent.  And  therefore  educa- 
tional systems  must  never  be  satisfied  to  keep  to  old-fashioned 
grooves  which  do  not  accord  with  the  new  conditions  of  the 
times,  but  must  be  always  ready  to  adapt  themselves  to  the 
ever-changing  aspect  of  things. 

The  immense  changes  in  the  conditions  of  life  and  labour 
which  the  revolutionary  process  of  our  age  has  already  brought 
about,  and  will  still  more  bring  about  in  the  future,  can  escape 
the  notice  of  none  who  are  capable  of  observing  human  affairs, 
from  whatever  point  of  view  they  may  contemplate  them.  The 
opening  out  of  political  and  civil  rights  to  all  classes,  with  the 
more  universal  desire  for  a  share  in  the  working  of  state 
machinery  consequent  thereon,  necessitates  undeniably  an 
extension  of  the  training  necessary  to  fit  men  for  such  work. 
And  a  like  demand  is  made  on  all  departments  of  life — art, 
science,  and  religion  not  excepted.  Everywhere  there  is  a 
widening  of  boundaries,  an  increase  of  the  conditions  which 
call  for  co-operation  ;  everywhere  we  see  not  only  that  greater 
and  more  difficult  tasks  are  allotted  to  individuals,  but  that  the , 
number  of  such  tasks  has  multiplied,  and  that  they  require 
ever  greater  and  wider  combinations  of  labourers  for  their 
fulfilment. 

The  above  remarks  apply,  of  course,  with  more  or  less  fitness 
to  all  times,  for  the  development  of  mankind — of  individual 
nations  as  of  individual  men — is  a  process  which  has  gone  on 


Introductory, 


nnintermptedly  through  all  ages  ;  but  at  the  same  time,  the 
history  of  this  development  proves  indisputably  the  periodical 
recurrence  of  epochs  in  which  the  changes,  which  for  centuries 
beforehand  had  been  gradually  and  silently  preparing,  have  at 
last  ripened  into  fruit,  when  the  new  has  burst  forth  from  the 
husk  of  the  old  in  visible  form,  and,  with  distinctly  urged 
claims. 

Such  an  epoch  is  ours. 

The  conception,  scarce  fifty  years  old,  of  universal  educa- 
tion for  the  people  has,  for  instance,  become  something  quite 
different  from  what  it  originally  was.  The  demand  for  a  higher 
grade  of  culture  in  all  classes  of  society  makes  itself  every  day 
more  distinctly  heard.  And  public  education,  in  the  shape  of 
schools,  has  certainly  in  the  main,  and  on  the  whole,  striven  to 
respond  to  this  demand.  But  has  all  been  accomplished  that 
should  be  ?  Without  in  the  least  wishing  to  underrate  the 
manifold  improvements  which  have  taken  place  in  the  number 
and  condition  of  schools,  we  feel  nevertheless  justified  in  asking 
whether  these  are  even  yet  adequate  to  satisfy  the  demands 
of  the  present  day  with  regard  to  universal  human  culture  ? 
Whether  such  knowledge  of,  and  insight  into,  the  true,  the 
good,  the  noble,  the  beautiful,  the  ideal,  as  schools  of  the 
present  highest  standard  of  excellence  are  able  to  afford,  be 
enough  to  satisfy  the  need  for  purer  morality,  to  impart  power 
to  carry  out  that  which  the  soul  acknowledges  as  best. 

Appearances  and  facts,  both,  alas  !  compel  us  to  answer  this 
question  in  the  negative !  Look  at  our  over-filled  prisons ; 
our  countless  hospitals  and  reformatories ;  the  ever-increasing 
number  of  divorces,  or  still  worse,  the  profanation  of  marriage 
itself,  which  has  come  to  be  so  generally  looked  upon  as  a  cari- 
cature ;  the  growing  frequency  of  suicide ;  the  gigantic  strides 
of  pauperism,  spite  of  the  emancipation  of  labour  and  trade 
from  all  restrictions  and  obstacles ;  spite  of  the  strong  impetus 
given  to  the  most  important  branches  of  industry  ;  consider  the 
rapid  spread  of  the  irreligious  spirit,  with  its  contempt  for  all 
the  loftier  emotions  of  the  human  soul ;  the  triumphs  of  dead 
rationalism  and  materialism,  of  mere  ignoble  pleasure- seeking  ; 
see  what  a  following  is  everywhere  gained  by  soulless  superfi- 

B  2 


A  New  Method  of  Education, 


ciality,  wordy  charlatanry,  and  nnblushing  deception — and  say 
whether  all  this  bears  witness  to,  whether  these  all  are  the 
fruits  of,  a  sound  and  true  system  of  education,  a  system 
corresponding  to  the  degree  of  civilization  attained  in  the 
present  day. 

And,  so  far  I  have  touched  only  on  the  outward  aspect  of 
existipng  circumstances ;  I  have  said  nothing  of  the  misery 
which  meets  the  eye  when  it  penetrates  to  the  hidden  regions 
of  society.  Self-seeking  in  its  coarsest  as  well  as  its  most 
refined  forms,  vulgarity  of  every  description,  greed,  avarice,  the 
most  miserable  frivolity,  lies,  and  trickery  of  every  conceivable 
kind.  Such  are  the  vices  found  to  be  working  in  secret,  while 
outwardly  they  appear  in  the  garb  of  their  opposite  virtues. 
Outward  appearance  is  the  god  we  worship,  and  outward 
appearance  has  to  such  an  extent  gained  the  mastery  in  the 
world,  that  belief  in  pure  disinterested  desire  after  good  has 
almost  vanished,  genuine  self-sacrifice  is  mistrusted,  mocked  at, 
or  calumniated,  and  the  man  who  yearns  after  a  better  state  of 
things  is  condemned  to  the  martyrdom  of  battling  with  sordid 
petty  souls. 

The  objection,  that  "  so  it  is,  and  so  it  always  will  be,  as 
long  as  there  are  human  beings  and  human  passions,"  is  one 
which  nobody  can  or  dares  make  who  thoughtfully  surveys  the 
course  of  human  development ;  for  such  a  survey  must  incon- 
testably  show  the  great  difference  between  the  condition  of 
civilized  nations  and  that  of  wild  barbaric  hordes — must  show 
how  high  modern  civilization  stands  above  the  rude  naturalism 
of  our  forefathers.  The  really  great  spirits  of  all  ages,  and  of 
all  nations,  agree  in  the  assertion  that  the  human  race  is  destined 
to  attain  to  an  ever  higher  degree  of  perfection,  and  con- 
sequently of  happiness  and  well-being. 

But  the  accomplishment  of  this  destiny  depends  on  the  har- 
monious cultivation  of  all  the  natural  powers  and  talents,  and 
requires  that,  at  every  fresh  stage  of  development  in  the  acquire- 
ment of  knowledge,  there  should  be  a  corresponding  stage  of 
development  in  the  capacity  for  moral  Dction.  This  balance, 
between  the  knowledge  of  what  is  good  and  the  power  to  put 
that  knowledge  into  action,  is  more  disturbed  in  the  present 


Introductory.  5 


day  than  it  ever  was  before,  and  to  restore  it  as  far  as  possible 
is  the  chief,  if  not  the  sole,  duty  of  education. 

But  schools  alone  are  not  adequate  to  the  fulfilment  of  this 
duty  ; .  and  for  this  reason,  that  they  concern  themselves  almost 
solely  with  the  training  of  the  understanding — their  chief  busi- 
ness is  to  impart  knowledge  ;  and  knowledge  and  understanding 
alone  are  not  sufficient  to  put  a  stop  to  vice,  crime,  and  im- 
morality, or  even  to  keep  them  within  bounds.  However  much 
these  evils  may  be  the  result  of  ignorance  of  anything  better, 
the  chief  blame  must  be  laid  to  the  imperfect  cultivation  of  the 
heart  and  conscience  and  moral  will ;  and  this  work  is  best 
carried  on  outside  the  school,  in  the  home  and  the  family,  and 
by  means  of  various  other  influences. 

The  history  of  all  ages  teaches  us  that  a  one-sided,  purely 
intellectual  development,  far  from  preserving  men  from  moral 
wrong-doing,  rather  tends  to  lead  them  into  it,  by  supplying 
them  with  increased  power.  The  assertion  that  crime  has 
decreased  during  the  last  century  may  have  some  foundation  in 
fact,  but  to  deduce  therefrom  an  increase  of  morality  would  be 
false  and  illusory.  If  the  number  of  gross  flagrant  misdeeds 
has  lessened,  the  sum  of  iniquity  wrought  out  in  secret  has 
certainly  not  diminished,  and  abhorrence  of  all  that  is  low, 
shame  at  infamy  and  disgrace,  are  undoubtedly  weaker  feelings 
than  formerly.  Mankind  of  to-day  wears  the  blossom  of  intel- 
ligence on  its  crown,  while  its  roots  are  rotting  in  the  mire  of 
materialism.  The  enlightened  mind  strives  upwards  to  the 
heights  of  culture,  while  the  feet  are  entangled  and  chained 
down  by  the  fetters  of  vice  and  degradation.  In  the  midst  of 
the  gross-minded  only  outwardly  civilized  many,  we  see  the 
fevj  struggling  in  vain  after  a  better  state  of  things,  after  the 
realization  of  conditions  under  which,  in  a  higher  and  a  nobler 
sense,  they  may  find  happiness,  or,  at  any  rate,  satisfaction.  And 
this  gulf  between  knowing  and  doing,  between  striving  and 
attaining,  between  the  ideal  and  the  real,  becomes  wider  every 
day,  because  there  is  a  daily  increase  in  the  sum  of  knowledge, 
while  the  power  of  action  is  too  often  frittered  away  in  fruitless 
efforts.  Let  no  one  complain  that  I  have  painted  too  black  a 
picture.     Whenever  reform  is  in  question,  it  is  an  imperative 


A  New  Method  of  Education. 


duty  to  show  up  unsparingly  the  dark  side  of  things,  to  lay 
bare  the  whole  evil  and  its  consequences.  This  does  not  hinder 
the  recognition  of  the  corresponding  bright  side,  of  the  good 
which  exists  side  by  side  with  the  evil.  The  Spirit  of  God 
works  in  all  ages,  and  His  sun  shines  over  all. 

It  is  the  faulty  method  of  education  in  vogue  in  these, 
whether  mentally  or  physically,  most  unhealthy  times,  that 
strikes  us  at  the  outset  as  the  chief  cause  of  the  evils  enume- 
rated. The  present  generation  is,  perhaps,  the  least  happy  that 
the  world  has  seen  for  many  centuries.  Precocity  of  under- 
standing, pride  of  intellectual  criticism,  reason  gaining 
strength  at  the  expense  of  feeling,  morbid  craving  for  pre- 
mature enjoyment,  weariness  of  life,  &c.,  are  certainly  not 
tokens  of  a  fresh,  joyous,  hopeful  youth,  capable  of  bring- 
ing about  a  better,  worthier,  loftier  condition  of  morality. 

To  produce  a  higher  order  of  things,  we  want  a  higher  order 
of  human  beings,  and  these  again  can  only  be  produced  by  a 
system  of  education  corresponding  to  the  degree  of  civilization 
at  present  reached.  If  we  want  plants  that  shall  produce 
better  fruit,  we  have  to  expend  more  care  and  culture  on  the 
seeds. 

Schools  have  undoubtedly  a  large  share  in  the  fulfilment  of 
this  task,  but  still  only  a  share ;  for  education — or  preparation 
for  life — comprehends  more  and  wider  elements  than  can  be 
dealt  with  in  the  narrow  limits  of  school  systems.  Just  as 
human  life  absorbs  into  itself  for  its  own  use  all  branches  of 
knowledge,  so  should  the  training  of  the  school  seek  to  comprise 
within  its  scope  every  branch  of  life,  and  thus  preserve  for  its 
pupils  a  constant  harmony  between  life  and  knowledge,  theory 
and  practice,  thinking  and  doing.  Schools  should  no  longer  be 
merely  places  of  book-learning,  no  longer  be  satisfied  to  teach 
the  sciences  without  any  regard  to  their  application  to  life. 
Their  aim  should  be,  as  far  as  possible,  to  effect  a  fusion  between 
knowledge  and  practice.  Before  all  things  they  should  furnish 
their  scholars  with  opportunities  for  the  exercise  of  their  moral 
powers ;  and  the  first  requisite  to  this  end  is  scope  for  free  action 
— for  it  is  only  the  free  choice  of  good  which  stamps  our  actions 
as  moral  in  the  higher  sense  of   the  word.      A  really  moral 


Introductory. 


education  cannot  be  effected  by  simply  placing  before  the  pnpil 
examples  of  elevation  of  mind,  or  heroic  deeds,  such  as  history 
affords :  a  field  for  action,  and  for  the  exercise  of  the  will,  is 
also  needed.  No  less  also  is  the  need  of  opportunities  for  the 
formation  of  good  habits,  which  are  the  foundation  of  all 
virtue.  A  soldier  may  have  learnt  every  handbook  of  military 
science  by  heart,  but  he  will  not  be  able  to  carry  out  a 
stratagem  without  practice. 

Education  must  supply  something  more  than  mere  word- 
teaching. 

Labour  and  pray  !  the  Bible  beautifully  says  to  us ;  that  is, 
feed  thy  spirit  by  communion  with  the  highest,  and  shine  forth 
before  the  world  in  deeds.  Word-teaching  is  undoubtedly  quicker 
and  easier  both  for  master  and  pupils,  but  for  this  very  reason 
•t  is  most  pernicious  to  the  latter,  for  they  accustom  themselves 
to  receiving  ideas  without  effort,  thought,  or  inquiry.  A 
sound,  natural  process  of  education  is  something  quite  dif- 
ferent. The  mind  in  its  infancy  is  only  able  to  take  in  a  small 
amount  of  imparted  knowledge  at  a  time,  and  can  only  assimi- 
late it  slowly  and  gradually.  At  first  it  only  takes  to  itself 
facts  presented  to  it  in  a  tangible  form — that  is  to  say,  the 
concrete,  which  is  all,  that  in  its  first  period  of  development,  it 
can  really  grasp.  But,  even  in  the  contemplation  of  the  con- 
crete, it  depends  upon  the  will,  or  the  peculiar  disposition  of 
the  pupil,  whether  he  will  carry  away  a  clear  and  lasting  idea 
of  what  he  has  seen,  or  only  quickly-fading  impressions. 

It  is  also  a  necessity  of  the  infnat  mind  to  give  out  again  in 
concrete  form  the  ideas  and  images  which  it  has  taken  into 
itself,  and  thus  to  fix  in  clear  objective  shape  the  dim  undefined 
images  floating  in  its  little  brain.  This  strongly  manifested 
need  of  child -nature  is  injuriously  checked  and  counteracted 
by  premature  verbal  instruction,  and  overmuch  imparting  of 
information,  and  the  mental  powers  are  thereby  weakened. 

The  next  point  of  importance,  in  providing  for  the  greatest 
happiness  and  well-being  of  humanity,  is  to  find  out  early  in 
the  life  of  each  individual  the  special  call  that  nature  has  made 
to  him  through  special  organization  and  talents,  and  to  main- 
tain his  outward  existence  in  harmony  with  this  inward  predis- 


8  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

position.  The  harmony  in  the  world  of  nature  arises  from  the 
fact  that  everything  is  exactly  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of 
its  particular  being,  and  exactly  in  the  place  where  nature 
intended  it  to  be,  and  that  nothing  wishes  to  be  something 
else,  or  somewhere  else.  A  like  harmony  will  only  reign  in  the 
world  of  man  when  that  takes  place  consciously,  which  happens 
unconsciously  in  nature.  And  the  only  way  to  such  an  end  is 
to  recognize  the  inner  calling  early  in  the  childhood  of  indi- 
viduals, and  to  determine  the  line  of  education  accordingly, 
so  that  they  may  be  made  completely  capable  of  f  alfilling  their 
vocations. 

Man  is  destined  to  find  contentment.  But  he  can  find  it  in 
no  other  way  than  by  working  out  his  life,  and  perfecting  his 
inner  self  through  the  fulfilment  of  duty,  and  in  the  labour  of 
his  vocation.  If  the  road  to  this  end  were  entered  on  at  the 
beginning  of  life,  if  education  led  in  this  direction  and  built 
up  the  requisite  capacity,  thousands  might  be  saved  from  the 
paths  of  error  who  are  only  led  astray  by  the  natural  desire  for 
inward  and  outward  happiness.  The  only  possible  way  of 
counteracting  the  passions,  which  are  for  ever  enticing  into 
crooked  paths,  is  by  giving  the  higher  promptings  of  human 
nature  the  opportunity  of  assisting  themselves,  and  so  develop- 
ing them  that  they  may  be  strong  enough  to  take  the  lead  in 
all  circumstances.  The  happiness  which  comes  to  us  through 
the  attainment  of  high  moral  force,  and  the  fulfilment  of  our 
vocation  and  duty — whereby  the  ideal  elements  of  personal  life 
are  called  into  play — will  be  a  sure  guarantee  against  the 
search  after  lower  and  less  noble  kinds  of  happiness.  Harmony 
between  our  inward  and  outward  nature  will  have  been  realized 
as  far  as  possible,  and  we  shall  have  strength  to  overcome  the 
unavoidable  discords  of  the  outer  world. 

Every  thoughtful  human  being  requires  a  central  point  round 
which  his  actions,  efforts,  and  wishes  may  revolve ;  he  requires 
it  for  his  inner  as  well  as  his  outer  life.  The  want  of  such  a 
centre  produces  discord  in  his  nature,  and  makes  him  unhappy. 
The  higher  this  central  point  is  fixed,  the  easier  will  it  be  to 
determine  the  relations  between  the  personal  existence  of  the 
individual  and  the  common  life  of  mankind;  and  it  is  these 


Introductory. 


very  relations  between  the  individual  and  mankind  which,  are 
in  question,  when  a  higher  morality,  a  more  real  and  worthy 
satisfaction,  are  talked  of.  For  man  is  not  only  an  individual, 
he  is  also  a  member  of  an  endless  chain  of  human  beings,  he  is 
inseparably  bound  up  with  the  whole  body  of  humanity — of 
that  part  of  it  which  is  contemporary  with  him,  that  which 
went  before,  and  that  which  will  follow  after. 

At  the  present  day  there  exists  only  the  semblance  of  such 
an  expansion  of  the  individual  into  the  universal  life — and  sem- 
blance can  never  afford  genuine  happiness — truth  and  reality 
can  alone  do  this.  Unreality  is  the  sure  vantage-ground  of 
dissatisfaction ;  and  if  this  stronghold  is  to  be  vanquished,  if 
an  increase  of  real  happiness  is  to  be  made  possible,  education 
must  furnish  the  necessary  forces — and  that  from  the  outset  of 
life.  And  there  is  no  other  way  than  by  satisfying  the  demands 
of  the  senses  in  the  ideal  sense. 

To  promote  this  end  there  must  be  placed  before  the  child, 
first  the  agreeable^  in  the  shape  of  physical  sensations ;  then 
the  heautiful,  which  must  come  to  it  as  impressions  on  the  senses 
from  outside ;  and  thirdly,  the  good,  viz.,  the  satisfaction  of  its 
inner  conscience.  There  will  also  be  further  need  of  the  for- 
mation of  good  habits  and  of  personal  activity,  which  will 
begin  with  childish  play  to  end  in  moral  well-doing. 

And  all  this  must  be  accomplished  by  means  of  the  two 
factors  of  education — the  family  and  the  school. 

Neither  of  these  is  as  yet  equal  to  its  task.  The  training  in 
the  family  is  left  very  much  to  chance,  is  dependent  on  the 
greater  or  less  natural  capacity  of  the  parents,  the  best  of  whom 
have  no  sure  guide  of  action,  while  the  greater  number  proceed 
without  any  thought  whatever.  The  school,  on  the  other  hand, 
affords  little  opportunity  for  anything  besides  intellectual  cul- 
ture, and  it  is  only  through  this  means  indirectly — instead  of,  as 
should  be,  directly — that  it  can  work  on  the  moral  powers. 
There  is  no  field  in  the  school  for  free  action,  for  the  creation 
of  the  beautiful,  and  for  the  full  exercise  of  the  active  powers ; 
and  without  these  means  neither  moral  forces  nor  any  other 
endowments  can  be  strengthened  and  perfected. 

In  order  that   these   necessary  conditions  may  be   realized, 


lO  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

there  is  need  of  a  deeper  knowledge  of  child-nature  as  it  exists 
in  its  original  state,  with  its  dispositions  as  yet  unbiassed,  and 
also  of  new  methods  whereby  these  dispositions — of  which  the 
form  and  direction  exist  in  the  infant  stage  only  in  embryo — 
may  be  from  the  beginning  directed  towards  the  good,  the  true, 
and  the  beautiful.  And  however  impossible  it  may  be  to 
accomplish  all  this  absolutely  and  perfectly,  it  must,  neverthe- 
less, be  the  aim  which  education  strives  after,  the  ideal  which 
it  sets  before  itself  under  all  circumstances. 

To  whatever  extent  earlier  educationalists  may  have  expressed 
similar  thoughts,  and  striven  to  work  them  out,  existing  cir- 
cumstances prove  that  the  services  rendered  by  them  alone  were 
not  sufficient.  A  fresh  genius  was  needed  to  add  new  material 
to  the  old. 

And  such  a  genius  we  behold  in  Friedrich  Frobel,  the  first 
and  the  only  teacher  who  has  discovered  a  practical  method  of 
maintaining  due  harmony — from  the  very  beginning  of  a  child's 
life,  and  with  exact  regard  to  the  special  materials  to  be  dealt 
with  in  each  case — between  the  receiving  and  the  giving  out  of 
knowledge,  between  learning  and  practising,  between  knowing 
and  doing.  By  his  work  the  first  step  has  been  made  in  the 
solution  of  the  highest  educational  problem,  and  a  process  of 
education  in  true  correspondence  with  the  laws  of  nature  has 
been  rendered  possible.  According  to  Frobel's  principles,  body 
and  spirit  both  receive  due  attention ;  neither  is  suppressed  or 
neglected  for  the  sake  of  the  other,  but  the  body  through  the 
discipline  of  the  senses  and  impulses  is  raised  to  the  level  of 
the  spirit.  And,  even  if  the  highest  union  between  the  two 
does  not  yet  seem  within  the  range  of  possibility,  there  has 
been  at  any  rate  a  material  lessening  of  the  discord  in 
human  nature — the  discord  which  made  of  the  body  and  the 
spirit  two  inimical  forces,  fighting  against  instead  of  beside 
each  other. 

This  is  the  point  which  has  been  so  much  misapprehended  in 
the  study  of  Frobel's  system.  And  yet  Frobel  does  not  deny 
the  existence  in  the  newborn  infant  of  an  original  disposition 
towards  evil.  But,  like  all  rational  persons,  he  considers  it  the 
first  duty  of  education  to  give  to  human  dispositions  a  bias  in 


Introductory,  1 1- 


the  direction  of  good,  in  order  that  the  original  discord, may  be 
brought  continually  nearer  to  harmony. 

Who  is  there  that  would  presume  to  decide  how  far  the 
attainment  of  such  an  end  is  possible  through  education — how 
far  it  is  possible  at  all  ?  But,  if  this  were  not  the  end  aimed 
at,  there  would  be  no  basis  for,  no  reason  in,  education.  Let  it 
not,  however,  be  supposed  that  we  wish  to  do  away  with,  or 
even  to  impugn,  the  belief  in  the  final  solution  of  this  problem, 
for  we  are  not  concerned  with  perfection  in  its  absolute  sense 
when  we  treat  of  education  on  this  earth  only. 

But  a  new  sort  of  beginning  must  be  made  if  the  desired  end 
is  to  be  reached  through  gradual  development. 

And  this  new  beginning   must  begin  with  the  life  of  the- 
child,  and,  consequently,  in   the  home,  and   by  means  of  the 
most  important  educational  factor — the  mother. 

The  mother  must  no  longer  be  content  to  meet  her  child's 
impulses  with  the  maternal  impulse — for  impulse  is  blind,  and 
the  following  of  it  cannot  result  in  happiness  for  reasonable 
beings.  But,  in  the  present  stage  of  the  development  of  the 
understanding,  she  needs  these  childish  impulses,  and  the  end 
for  which  they  are  destined,  in  order  that  she  may  be  able  ta^ 
afford  them  the  right  kind  of  satisfaction. 

It  is  to  the  perfection  of  this  science,  the  true  science  for 
mothers,  that  Frbbel  has  opened  up  the  way.  Through  it  the 
family  will  be  rendered  capable  of  fulfilling  its  educational  task 
more  completely,  and  will  thus  take  equal  rank  with  the  school, . 
inasmuch  as  in  the  circle  of  the  family  the  soil  will  be  prepared 
for  the  intellectual  training  of  the  school,  and  the  development 
of  the  moral  powers,  to  which  the  school  is  not  adequate,  will- 
be  carried  out. 


12  A  New  Method  of  Education. 


CHAPTER  II. 

CHILD-NATURE. 

The  child  is  bom  into  the  world !  He  enters  it  struggling ; 
a  scream  is  his  first  utterance.  His  destiny  is  labour ;  he  has 
to  make  himself  master  of  the  world  by  his  own  exertions  in 
whatever  sphere  of  society  his  cradle  may  lie. 

A  thick  veil  hangs  over  the  young  being  which,  like  a  closely 
-enveloped  bud,  does  not  betray  the  exact  image  of  the  flower  it 
will  one  day  expand  into. 

Can  even  the  mother  divine  what  fate  is  in  store  for  her  new- 
bom  child  ?  She  knows  not  whether  there  lies  in  her  lap  a 
future  benefactor  of  mankind,  or  a  miserable  criminal.  Is  it 
in  her  power  to  bring  about  the  one  destiny — to  avert  the 
other  ?  Who  can  doubt  that  she  may  do  something  towards 
both  these  ends  ?  Imagine,  for  instance,  an  infant  with  the 
natural  endo^vTuents  of  a  Goethe,  a  Beethoven,  a  Raphael,  or  a 
Franklin,  and  let  its  cradle  be  placed  in  some  haunt  of  misery 
and  vice.  A  childhood  without  loving  care,  without  guidance, 
passed  in  the  midst  of  immoral  surroundings ;  a  youth  lived 
among  drunkards,  thieves,  and  liars — how  much  of  the  original 
material  will  have  been  developed  ? — as  good  as  none  !  and  the 
gifts  of  nature  will  probably  become  a  perilous  weapon  in  the 
hands  of  a  scoundrel. 

Or  suppose  the  same  gifted  child  to  be  bom  in  a  palace,  and 
brought  up  by  weak,  light-minded  parents  in  extravagance  and 
luxury,  and  under  the  pernicious  system  of  intellectual  forcing, 
but  at  the  same  time,  in  all  practical  senses,  in  utter  idleness — 
is  it  likely  that  in  such  a  case,  the  natural  endowments  will 
ripen  to  perfection  ?  Hardly  !  If  a  few  sickly  sprays  shoot 
out  and  blossom,  it  is  as  much  as  can  be  hoped  for. 


Child-Nature,  13. 


N'ow  let  lis  reverse  tlie  supposition,  and  imagine  a  child  of 
quite  ordinary  faculties  reared  neither  in  want  and  vice,  nor  in 
luxury  and  superfluity,  whose  parents  and  whole  surroundings 
fulfil  all  the  conditions  which  a  human  being  can  require  for 
its  development — will  a  distinguished  man  or  woman  be  the 
result  in  such  a  case — a  great  artist,  or  a  splendid  character, 
whose  place  will  be  lastingly  marked  out  in  human  society  ? 
Certainly  not !  Great  geniuses,  great  characters,  bring  their 
greatness  with  them  into  the  world.  Rose-trees  cannot  be 
grown  from  thistle-seeds. 

Or  let  us  imagine  the  most  highly  gifted  of  human  beings 
brought  up  under  all  the  best  conceivable  educational  influ- 
ences, whether  according  to  Frobel's  principles  or  others — would 
such  an  one  appear  before  us  as  a  completely  perfect  man  ? 
Certainly  not !  If  we  presumed  to  answer  this  question  in  the 
affirmative,  we  inust  be  prepared  to  maintain  as  a  general  fact 
that  human  conditions  are  sufficient,  in  any  direction  whatever, 
to  produce  perfection.  And  this  we  cannot  do.  For  we  see  all 
around  us  defects  of  birth,  as  well  as  defects  of  education  and 
surroundings,  and  we  cannot  attempt  to  determine  how  much  of 
the  imperfection  of  human  beings  is  to  be  attributed  to  natural 
qualification,  and  how  much  to  outward  influences — to  the  edu- 
cation which  is  bestowed,  as  well  as  to  that  which  goes  on  of 
itself. 

Each  of  these  influences  has  its  part  in  the  development  of" 
the  man  or  woman  out  of  the  child.     But  the  more  human 
knowledge  embraces  in  its    scope   the   knowledge   of    human 
nature,  the  more  educational  systems  are  adopted  to  this  know- 
ledge, the  nearer  will  they  be  brought  to  perfection. 

Human  nature  has  not  as  yet  attained  to  its  full  standard  of 
development,  nor  does  any  one  yet  know  to  what  height  it  is 
capable  of  rising  even  on  earth.  Once  only  did  mankind  behold 
its  perfect  pattern  in  the  man  Christ  Jesus.  But  we  know  that 
man  is  of  divine  origin,  and  that  his  destiny  is  to  become  the 
image  of  God.  Eternally  progressing  development  can  alone 
solve  the  problem  of  his  existence. 

Frobel  aptly  describes  human  nature  when  he  says  :  "  Man  is 
at  once  the  child  of  nature,  the  child  of    humanity,  and  the^ 


14  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

child  of  God ; "  in  this  threefold  sense  alone  can  he  be  rightly 
understood.  Frobel  himself  has  done  little  to  develop  this  and 
many  other  of  his  profound  thoughts  on  human  nature,  and  there 
is,  therefore,  need  of  constant  exposition  to  make  them  more 
thoroughly  understood.  By  the  comprehension  of  this  three- 
fold character  in  human  nature,  Frobel  to  a  certain  extent 
neutralizes  the  discord  between  body  and  spirit,  for  he  places 
man  as  a  reconciler  between  God  and  Nature. 

With  its  first  breath  the  child  comes  undoubtedly  into 
relation  with  these  three  powers:  Nature,  Humanity,  and 
God. 

(1.)  As  a  child  of  nature,  man  is  connected  with  all  the 
elements  of  creation,  even  down  to  the  inorganic  ones,  which 
•can  be  detected  as  iron  in  the  blood,  as  chalk  in  the  bones,  and 
so  forth.  As  a  product  of  nature,  he  is  not  only  subject  to  her 
laws,  he  lives  in  her,  and  only  exists  through  her,  he  comes  out 
from  her  and  goes  back  to  her  !  He  is  surrounded  by  her  atmo- 
rsphere,  and  his  earthly  life  is  an  outcome  of  it.  Soil  and  climate, 
food  and  clothing,  with  the  modes  of  life  arising  therefrom, 
give  their  special  stamp  to  races  and  peoples,  of  which  the 
individual  man  is  a  member.  There  is  not  a  single  product  of 
nature  that  does  not  pass  into  man,  or  at  any  rate  stand  in 
relation  to  him.  Everywhere  there  goes  on  a  perpetual  inter- 
change of  material  between  man  and  nature,  nature  and  man ; 
and  when  a  human  being  has  finished  his  course  on  earth,  he 
bequeaths  to  the  earth  his  body  which  will  rise  from  it  again 
ras  plants,  flowers,  or  fruits. 

And  through  nature,  too,  men  are  closely  bound  up  in  one 
another,  each  generation  in  itself,  and  all  generations  together, 
for,  from  the  first  down  to  the  last,  the  great  world  chemist  has 
smelted  and  fused  them  with  one  another,  and  with  the  king- 
doms of  nature. 

In  all  these  kingdoms  there  is  but  one  and  the  same  law  which 
governs  alike  the  heavenly  bodies  and  the  smallest  stone,  the 
lowest  animal,  and  the  noblest  human  being,  for  all  have  the 
I  same  origin  and  the  same  Creator,  God,  And  it  is  because  the 
Spirit  of  God  lives  in  nature  and  in  the  human  soul  that  man 
is  able   to  understand   nature.     Only  where   there   is  mutual 


Child- Nature.  1 5 


analogy,  is  imitual  understanding  possible.  And  this  under- 
standing, this  finding  out,  of  analogies  must  be  arrived  at,  if 
man  is  to  acquire  a  deeper  knowledge  of  his  own  being.  We 
have  not  yet  got  beyond  the  A  B  C  of  the  great  symbolisms  of 
nature  :  but  science  now-a-days  takes  possession  with  giant 
strides  of  one  realm  of  nature  after  another.  Let  us  only 
place  the  rising  generation,  from  its  cradle  up,  under  the  mighty 
influences  of  divine  nature,  so  that  her  intuitive  language  may 
penetrate  to  our  children's  souls,  and  awaken  an  echo  in  them, 
and  mankind  will  soon  be  better  able  to  solve  the  riddles  which 
contain  the  key  of  life,  the  hieroglyphs  of  this  mystic  symbolism 
will  soon  be  legible  to  all. 

(2.)  But  as  a  child  of  humanity,  the  young  citizen  of  the 
world  comes  out  from  the  circle  of  necessity  to  which  all  the 
domains  of  nature  beleng,  and  enters  the  realm  of  freedom,  of 
self-knowledge,  and  self-mastery. 

The  stamp  of  natural  organisms  is  simple,  and  easily  recog- 
nized ;  the  species  is  a  sure  index  to  the  individual. 

In  the  human  organism,  individuality  grows  into  'personality, 
which  once  established  can  never  more  be  lost,  but  expands  and 
develops  continually  in  the  chain  of  conscious  existence,  whose 
highest  member  leads  up  to  the  Godhead.  But  here,  too,  the 
species,  the  tribe,  the  nation,  the  generation,  all  combine  to  give 
the  stamp  to  the  individual. 

Who  is  there  that  would  be  able  to  unravel  the  many- 
threaded,  thousand-fold  entangled  web  of  derivation  ?  To 
determine  how  much  is  inherited  from  the  race,  the  nation,  the 
family,  and  how  much  is  peculiar  to  the  individual  himself. 
Do  not  numberless  traits  of  character  live  on  from  forefathers 
to  descendants  ?  N^o  one  can  entirely  separate  himself  from  the 
chain  of  which  he  is  a  link.  None  can  repudiate  the  heritage 
of  his  fathers  ;  whether  it  descend  to  him  in  the  features  of  his 
face,  in  his  gestures,  or  in  special  qualities  of  the  soul,  either 
good  or  bad. 

The  old  saying,  "  the  sins  of  the  fathers  are  visited  on  the 
children  to  the  fourth  generation,"  is  true  for  all  times.  But 
virtues  perpetuate  themselves  in  like  manner,  and  it  is  within 
the  free  choice  of  every  separate  personality  to  diminish  the 


1 6  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

sum  of  wickedness  and  to  increase  that  of  virtue.  The  moral 
progress  of  mankind  depends  on  this,  that  each  individual  and 
each  generation  make  such  use  of  the  pound  handed  over  to  it 
bj  its  predecessor,  that  it  shall  bring  back  thousand-fold 
interest. 

Backslidings  of  individual  human  beings,  as  of  individual 
nations,  are  unavoidable  in  the  gTeat  school  of  experience  in 
which  Providence  has  placed  mankind.  But  progress  in  the 
main,  and  on  the  whole,  is  going  forward.  To  deny  this,  is  as 
much  as  to  deny  the  Providence  which  has  implanted  this  in- 
cessant yearling  after  something  better  (even  under  earthly 
conditions)  in  the  human  breast,  and  has  based  on  this  yearn- 
ing the  whole  moral  and  mental  development  of  man.  Without 
the  assumption  of  the  possibility  of  perfection,  for  the  individual 
as  well  as  for  the  race,  human  education  would  be  without  end 
or  aim. 

To  what  extent  man  is  the  offspring  of  humanity  is  seen  in 
a  thousand  different  ways.  A  child  may  have  been  transplanted 
to  a  foreign  land  and  into  the  midst  of  foreign  surroundings 
immediately  after  its  birth,  and  it  will  nevertheless  learn  its 
mother  tongue  with  greater  facility  than  any  other.  There  are 
examples  to  show  that  children  who  had  lost  their  jjarents  in 
strange  countries,  at  the  tenderest  age,  and  had  never  heard  a 
syllable  of  their  mother  tongue,  learnt  it  with  incredible 
rapidity  at  the  first  opportunity.  So,  too,  it  is  affirmed  that  it 
is  not  only  owing  to  the  imitative  faculty  that  children  learn 
their  parents'  trades  so  easily.  The  practice  of  the  parents, 
through  which  special  organs  are  developed,  stands  the  children 
in  good  stead.  And  who  has  not  caught  himself  in  habits  which 
are  hereditary  in  his  family  ? 

Humanity  is  a  whole,  and  is  destined  to  develop  and  establish 
itself  more  and  more  as  an  organism  through  the  conscious 
hanging  together  of  its  members,  through  the  realization 
(striven  after  by  all  religions)  of  the  brotherhood  of  men. 
Hence  the  individual  can  only  be  understood  when  considered 
as  part  of  the  race,  while  it  is  only  through  individuals  that  the 
race  can  receive  the  full  impress  of  all  its  manifold  features. 
The    paradox,    "the    more    individual,    so    much    the    more 


Child- Nature.  17 


nniversal ;  and  the  more  universaj,  so  mucli  the  more  individual," 
is  only  an  apparent  contradiction.  The  more  distinctly  and 
completely  the  personal  character  of  the  individual  pronounces 
itself,  the  nearer  will  it  approach  the  universal  character  of 
mankind,  i  Harmony  in  music  is  all  the  more  perfect  when 
each  separate  instrument  gives  out  its  particular  note  clearly  j 
and  sharply. 

Profound  obscurity  still  covers  the  Wliy  of  the  great  mystery 
of  unity  in  variety,  and  of  the  linking  together  of  generations 
in  the  past,  the  present,  and  the  future.  But  with  the  advance 
of  all  other  sciences  that  of  humanity  is  advancing  also.  The 
time  will  come  when  man  shall  have  arrived  at  that,  which  by 
the  wise  of  all  ages  has  been  recognized  as  the  keystone  of 
wisdom,  viz.,  "  to  know  oneself." 

All  knowledge  must  ascend  from  the  easier  to  the  more  diffi- 
cult ;  and  so  the  road  to  the  knowledge  of  man  must  lead  first 
through  that  of  the  organisms  of  nature,  which  is  subordinate 
to  man.  Man  must  first  behold  himself  in  the  looking-glass  of 
nature,  before  he  can  rightly  use  that  glass  which  the  history  of 
mankind  holds  up  to  him. 

Only  in  the  mirror  of  his  own  race,  in  the  history  of 
humanity,  can  individual  man  see  what  his  true  nature  is — 
though  hitherto  it  may  be  only  in  a  fragmentary  manner. 
However  much  epochs  and  nations  may  differ  from  one  another, 
and  however  infinite  in  its  variety  may  be  the  conformation  of 
separate  individuals — each  one  sees,  nevertheless,  the  universal 
features  of  his  broad  human  nature  beaming  at  him  from  the 
portraits  of  history.  What  is  it  that  makes  the  dramas  of 
Shakspeare  immortal,  but  the  grandly  universal  traits  of 
human  nature  which  stand  out  with  the  strongest  individuality 
in  all  his  characters  ?  These  universal  features  remain  the 
same,  and  are  comprehensible,  in  all  ages  and  under  all  forms. 

Mankind  from  its  birth,  like  individual  man,  has  passed 
through,  and  is  still  passing  through,  the  different  stages  of 
childhood,  youth,  manhood,  and  old  age.  And  conversely  we 
see  in  the  development  of  the  individual  the  universal  features 
of  the  progress  of  mankind. 

Frobel  has  studied  these  features  with  deeper  insight,  and 

c 


1 8  A  New  Method  of  Educatmt. 

has  found  a  method  of  drawing  them  out  in  the  various  stages 
of  childish  development,  through  sensation,  will,  and  action. 

In  the  instinctive  utterances  of  infant  nature,  in  so  far  as 
its  freedom  is  not  curtailed  by  the  training  universally  in  vogue, 
are  seen  traces  of  the  gT'oove  in  which  mankind  has  gone 
forward  in  its  march  from  the  beginnings  of  civilization  to  the 
nevghts  reached  at  the  present  day.  The  instinct  of  animals 
has  been  strong  enough  from  the  very  beginning  to  procure 
them  the  necessaries  of  their  existence.  The  various  races  of 
animals  have  not  changed  their  functions  within  our  epochs. 
The  bee  builds  its  cell,  the  swallow  her  nest,  the  fox  his  hole, 
exactly  as  they  did  formerly.  Man  alone  has  been  compelled 
to  open  out  a  way  for  himself,  to  mount  upwards  by  his  own 
labour  and  exertions,  by  the  mighty  power  of  his  inventive 
spirit,  and  through  thousands  of  errors  and  byways,  from  the 
first  rude  conditions  of  a  wild  life  of  nature  to  the  heights  of 
civilization.  The  history  of  human  culture  shows  what  man 
is,  and  what  he  is  capable  of,  what  has  been  reached,  and  what 
is  still  wanting. 

But  whatsoever  the  mind  of  man  may  have  produced,  from 
the  most  primitive  work-tools  carved  out  of  stones  and  roots, 
to  the  wonderful  machinery  of  modern  times ;  from  the  first 
rude  outlines,  copied  from  the  shadows  of  objects,  to  the 
wonders  of  sculpture  and  painting ;  from  the  imitated  tones  of 
birds  and  insects  and  all  the  different  sounds  of  nature,  to  the 
symphonies  of  Beethoven;  from  the  rude  knowledge  of  the 
relations  of  space  and  size  to  the  measurement  of  the  heavens ; 
in  all  that  the  human  mind  has  accomplished  in  the  way  of 
knowledge,  it  is  nature  that  has  given  the  direction-line  and 
the  law.  For  man  could  only  create  after  the  patterns  of  the 
Creator  himself,  and  it  is  only  in  a  later  stage  of  development 
that  the  genius  of  mankind  has  been  capable  of  giving  a  divine 
stamp  to  these  first  rude  constructions,  and  of  elevating  them 
into  works  of  art.  These  early  patterns  were  to  man  at  the 
same  time  symbols  of  truth;  visible  signs  of  the  invisible — 
until  he  became  capable  of  immediate  apprehension  through 
the  Word.  By  gentle,  gradual  steps,  through  the  rudest  and 
the  simplest  modes  of  sensual  perception  to  the  manifestation 


T 


Child- Nature,  19 


of  divine  beauty  in  Art,  and  of  divine  truth  in  tlie  Word,  has 
God,  the  great  educator,  led  his  human  children. 

In  the  play  of  children  of  all  times  we  see  the  nature  of 
mankind  expressed.  Its  past  and  future  life  passes  through 
the  soul  of  the  child  as  a  dim  recollection  and  a  dim  foreboding, 
and  groping  and  fumbling  it  seeks  to  find  the  leading-string, 
both  outward  and  inward,  which  shall  guide  it  through  all 
labyrinths  to  the  fulfilment  of  its  tasks. 

/  As  birds  build  their  nests,  so  children  in  their  play  build 
houses,  or  dig  holes.  As  chickens  scratch  up  the  earth,  so,  too, 
do  little  children's  hands,  until  in  their  little  gardens  they  have 
learnt  in  play  how  to  till  the  soil,  and  sow  and  reap.  Any 
chance-found  material  will  serve  them  for  plastic  modelling,  be 
it  only  moist  sand.  There  is  no  art  which  is  not  attempted  by 
children,  whether  it  be  pictures  in  chalk  or  pencil,  or  drawn  in 
the  sand;  or  that  the  first  stammering  tones  of  the  newborn 
infant  move  rhythmically;  or  the  crowing  of  the  cock,  the 
mooing  of  the  cow,  the  bark  of  the  dog,  and  any  other  animal 
voices,  be  imitated  by  children,  until  true  musical  sounds  issue 
from  their  little  throats ;  these  are  the  first  beginnings  which 
lead  up  to  art.  And  with  the  rudiments  of  industry  and  art, 
the  first  germs  of  science  show  themselves  also  in  the  desire  to 
know.  With  its  oft-repeated :  why,  how,  wherefore  ?  the 
young  mind  strives  to  get  to  the  bottom  of  things,  to  the  funda-, 
mental  truth,  to  their  source  in  God. 

It  is  a  fundamental  necessity  that  the  development  of  the 
individual  should  go  through  the  same  phases  as  that  of  the 
race,  for  both  have  the  same  end  before  them.  Happiness — or 
according  to  Frobel — "  Joy,  Peace,  Freedom,"  are  sought  by 
the  individual,  are  sought  by  mankind.  To  both  these  can 
only  come  through  the  fulfilment  of  their  destination,  which  is 
the  full  development  of  the  entire  human  nature.  A  rightly 
directed  education  is  the  chief  means  of  reaching  this  end,  but  a 
means  which  is  only  possible  through  a  right  understanding  of 
man  and  nature.  Through  this  understanding  alone  can  the 
secret  of  human  existence  be  discovered. 

(3.)  Every  human  being  is  in  his  spiritual  origin  a  particular 
thought  of  God, 

c  2 


20  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

The  child  of  God  exists  only  as  a  feeble  spark  in  the  human 
being  at  his  first  entrance  into  the  world ;  to  fan  this  spark  into 
a  flame  is  the  object  of  his  earthly  existence.  At  the  beginning 
of  existence  the  cliild  of  nature  rules  in  man  as  instinctive  life, 
as  an  impulse  which  awakens  the  will — at  first  only  as  an  un- 
governed  force  of  nature.  Self-preservation  is  almost  exclu- 
sively the  unconscious  object  of  all  childish  utterances.  And 
we  have  no  right  to  blame  children  for  this  so-called  egoism ; 
had  not  an  all- wise  providence  implanted  this  impulse  so 
strongly  in  the  human  breast,  how  could  weak,  helpless  beings 
preserve  their  existence  in  the  midst  of  the  countless  perils  of 
life  ?  It  is,  however,  the  business  of  education  to  moderate 
this  instinct  of  self-preservation,  and  by  the  exercise  of  the 
capacity  for  loving,  to  lead  the  child  out  of  the  narrow  range  of 
personal  life  into  that  of  the  cliild  of  humanity,  z.e.,  the  social 
being  who  constitutes  a  member  of  human  society.  In  this 
sphere  feeling  and  reason  bear  rule,  and  by  these  the  will  is 
guided,  and  pointed  to  a  higher  aim  than  mere  personal  well- 
being. 

Self-reliance,  independence,  freedom,  are  the  highest  stamps 
of  the  child  of  humanity  as  an  individual.  How  far  would  the 
development  of  the  world  have  advanced  were  it  not  for  the 
inborn,  unextinguishable  craving  which  is  driving  and  spurring 
men  on  to  create  for  themselves  an  independent  existence,  a 
respected  position  in  society  ?  Almost  all  progress  is  the  result 
of  it.  Each  one  wishes  to  assert  himself,  to  be  himself  the 
centre  of  a  little  world  of  his  own  activity;  and  this  desire 
drives  him  to  a  thousand  exertions,  to  countless  inventions,  to 
continuous  alteration  of  his  position,  and  consequently  of  his 
whole  circumstances. 

So  long,  however,  as  man  considers  only  himself — or  even 
the  wider  self  of  his  family — so  long  the  chiM  of  God  still 
slumbers  in  him.  Then  only  is  the  latter  awake  and  living, 
when  the  love  which  has  hitherto  embraced  only  himself,  and 
the  narrow  circle  of  those  living  with  him,  drives  him  forth 
into  the  larger  community  of  the  nation  and  the  race;  when 
this  love  becomes  strong  enough  to  move  him,  regardless  of  his- 
own  personality,  yea,  more,  at  the  sacrifice  of  earthly  person- 


Child-Nature.  21 


alitv,  to  devote  himself  to  the  good  of  the  whole.  He  that 
enters  the  service  of  mankind  has  entered  the  service  of  God. 
The  saying  :  "  He  that  loveth  not  his  brethren,  how  can  he  love 
God  ?  "  is  the  kernel  of  all  religion.  Through  the  love  of  those 
outside  us  we  arrive  at  the  love  of  God,  in  that  higher  com- 
munity which  exists  outside  the  visible  world. 

By  every  ideal  upsoaring  we  overstep  the  limits  of  this 
earthly  visible  life,  and  penetrate  into  a  higher  world  where 
the  mortal  becomes  immortal.  If  everywhere  throughout  the 
universe  there  is  continuous  unbroken  connection,  it  can  only 
be  an  apparent  gap  which  is  caused  by  earthly  death.  The 
image  of  God,  to  which  man  is  called  to  raise  himself,  cannot 
be  perfected  in  the  narrow  limits  of  earthly  existence ;  in  his 
divine  nature  man  is  a  citizen  of  the  great  All,  which  prevails 
by  gradual  advances,  thereby  conquering  time  and  space. 

Who  is  there  that  either  would  or  could  deny  that  man  bears 
in  himself  the  marks  that  he  is  destined  to  communion  with 
God,  and,  finally,  to  union  with  Him  ?  Has  there  ever  been  a 
human  being  worthy  of  the  name,  who  has  passed  through  the 
whole  course  of  his  earthly  life  without  experiencing  a  craving 
after  something  higher  ?  It  may  have  been  but  one  single 
moment  of  strong  emotion,  whether  of  joy  or  of  sorrow,  but 
that  moment  has  been  enough  to  point  to  something  beyond  the 
confines  of  this  existence.  Is  there  any  work  of  man,  even 
the  highest,  any  deed,  even  the  greatest,  which  does  not  pre- 
suppose something  higher  than  itself,  more  perfect  ?  Nowhere 
in  human  existence  is  full  satisfaction  to  be  found,  everywhere 
forebodings,  yearnings,  hopings,  drive  us  outside  of  ourselves — 
on  to  the  Ideal  of  Humanity — as  it  was  once  presented  to  us  in 
Him  who  gave  His  life  for  His  brethren — on  to  the  fountain  of 
all  fulness  and  perfection — to  God  Himself  ! 

Such  is  the  cliild  of  God,  who  enters  into  a  higher  liberty, 
because  he  has  become  capable  of  a  higher  love.  Only  through 
love  is  true  liberty  possible  ;  for  it  is  only  love  that  can  conquer 
whatever  is  opposed  to  liberty;  and  only  in  liberty  is  love 
possible,  for  only  he  who  possesses  himself  in  perfect  liberty  is 
free  to  give  himself  up  in  love. 

All  great  benefactors  of  mankind,  all  its  true  heroes,  martyrs, 


22  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

and  saints,  all  really  great  artists  and  great  discoverers  of  trutb 
and  science — as  also  all  childlike  souls  wlio  have  lived  out  their 
lives  in  simplicity  and  piety — were  children  of  God.  In  them 
the  divine  spark  had  kindled  into  a  holy  fire  of  inspiration, 
purifying  and  enlightening  the  soul,  and  enabling  the  divine 
mind  to  shine  through  the  human.  In  them  the  soul  had  burst 
the  narrow  bounds  of  personality  and  expanded  itself  on  man- 
kind, in  anticipation  of  that  time  when  all  human  beings,  in 
full  possession  of  their  perfected  individuality,  will  together 
realize  the  great  being  of  humanity;  i.e.,  when  all  the  endless 
variety  of  human  life  shall  be  swallowed  up  in  unity,  and  the 
countless  different  notes  of  a  great  harmony  of  brotherly  love 
be  struck  in  concord.  Then  the  child  of  God  will  have 
triumphed  in  humanity,  then  good  will  have  conquered  evil, 
then  the  Apotheosis  of  this  earthly  globe  and  its  inhabitants 
will  be  consummated ! 

We  may  lower  or  raise  the  standard  of  perfection  attainable 
on  earth  as  much  as  we  will — it  matters  little.  Once  let  us 
accept  the  law  of  progress  as  an  eternal  law,  and  it  must  lead 
us  on  to  ever  higher  ends.  There  are  only  two  alternatives : 
either  this  earth  is  a  treadmill,  on  which  men  go  round  and 
round  without  ever  getting  further  ;  or  else  mankind  is  destined 
to  attain  even  on  earth  to  a  God-decreed  height  of  perfection, 
which  will  be  carried  on  further  and  further  in  the  great  hier- 
archy of  the  universe. 

If  all  without  exception  believed  in  this  high  destiny,  if  each 
one  of  us  was  convinced  that  he  was  called  to  work  according 
to  God's  will  towards  the  fulfilment  of  this  aim,  how  much 
more  quickly  would  it  be  reached  ?  How  much  more  easily 
would  want  and  sorrow  be  endured  if  we  kept  steadily  in  view 
the  great  end,  to  bring  us  nearer  which  every  experience  of 
humanity  must  be  gone  through,  every  pain  suffered  and  its 
cause  mastered  ?  But  each  patient  sufferer  and  faithful  worker 
will  once  have  his  share  in  the  glory  of  fulfilment.  This  is  the 
true  belief,  belief  in  the  glorification  of  God  in  humanity ;  this 
is  the  belief  which  all  religions  must  presuppose,  this  is  the 
kernel  of  Christianity ;  and  one  great  reason  why  religion  has 
so  little  hold  on  the  world  now-a-days  is,  that  it  mostly  leaves- 


Child-Nature.  23 


this  belief  out  of  accoTint.  So  long  as  it  is  considered  mere 
fanaticism,  or  Utopian  expectation,  to  believe  in  this  Apotheosis 
of  humanity,  so  long  will  it  remain  unrealized.  To  science  is 
committed  the  great  task  of  demonstrating,  how  all  that  exists, 
not  only  in  our  planet  but  in  all  the  heavenly  bodies,  is  bound 
together  in  one  continuous  chain.  When  this  has  been  accom- 
plished, the  higher  relations  of  things  beyond  the  earth  will  be 
understood  of  themselves,  and  the  belief  in  their  perfect 
spiritual  development  will  itself  have  become  science. 

But  this  triumph  of  the  child  of  God  will  not  be  brought 
about  by  the  suppression  and  annihilation  of  the  child  of  nature^ 
and  the  child  of  humanity.  The  full  harmony  of  human  nature 
can  only  be  produced  when  its  due  weight  is  given  to  each  side, 
and  the  higher  nature  draws  the  others  up  to  equal  perfection 
with  its  own. 

Education  will  only  then  fulfil  its  task  when  it  deals  withi 
human  nature  in  its  threefold  aspect,  and  gives  to  each  equal! 
consideration.  Hitherto,  this  has  not  been  possible,  both\ 
because  child-nature  was  little  understood  before  the  present 
time,  and  because  the  means  were  wanting  to  respond  from  the 
very  beginning  to  the  necessities  of  the  infant  mind.  It  was 
Frobel  who  first  found  the  key  to  the  nature  of  children,  who 
learnt  to  understand  their  dumb  natural  language,  who  dis- 
covered a  way  of  supplying  them  with  their  first  mental  nourish- 
ment, and  of  treating  the  child  of  humanity,  from  its  first 
entrance  into  the  world,  as  a  being  destined  to  become  reason- 
able. 

But  where  shall  we  find  mothers  fit  to  receive  the  educational 
legacy  of  genius  bequeathed  to  our  age,  and  to  apply  it  in  the 
right  way  ?  We  have  but  to  look  around  in  all  classes  of  society 
to  see  how  few  are  the  women  really  fit  to  become  mothers  and 
bringers-up  of  children.  And  even  the  best  amongst  them  are 
deficient  in  the  necessary  knowledge  and  means.  Frobel  has 
laid  the  basis  of  a  true  science  for  mothers,  and  we  hope  that 
the  innumerable  perversities  of  our  educational  systems  may  be 
struck  at  their  roots,  and  misery  of  every  description  thus 
warded  off. 
■  With  the  elevation  of  child- nature,  the  elevation  of  woman 


24  A  ^^"^  Method  of  Education. 

and  her  veritable  emancipation  are  closely  bound  up.  The 
science  of  the  mother  initiates  her  inevitably  into  a  higher 
branch  of  knowledge,  whereby  not  mere  dry  intellectual  power, 
but  true  sensibility  and  high  spiritual  clearsightedness  are 
developed  in  her.  With  the  knowledge  that  a  divine  spark 
slumbers  in  the  little  being  on  her  lap,  there  must  kindle  in  her 
a  holy  zeal  and  desire  to  fan  this  spark  into  a  flame,  and  to 
educate  for  humanity  a  worthy  citizen.  With  this  vocation  of 
educator  of  mankind  is  bound  up  everything  needful  to  place 
I  woman  in  possession  of  the  full  rights  of  a  worthy  humanity. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE    FIRST   UTTERANCES    OF   THE    CHILD. 

"  Sich  selbst  und  ihre  Welt  zu  schaffen,  welche  Grott  erschaffen,  ist  die  Aufgabe 
der  Menschheit,  wie  des  Einzelnen." 

"To  fashion  himself,  to  fashion  the  world,  which  Grod  created,  is  the  task  of 
humanity,  as  well  as  of  the  individual." 

Not  Frobel  alone,  others  too  before  him,  and  at  the  same  time, 
have  given  expression  to  the  thought  that,  as  the  universal 
development  of  the  human  individual  can  only  be  carried  on  in 
relation  to  his  race,  so  the  first  sure  standard  for  his  manage- 
ment and  education  must  be  obtained  through  observation  of 
the  development  of  collective  humanity.  Frobel  grounded  his 
Kindergarten  system  to  a  great  extent  on  this  principle,  without, 
however,  carrying  its  application  to  the  individual ;  a  few  ex- 
planations, therefore,  by  which  this  analogy  may  be  more  closely 
established,  and  Frobel's  system  of  development  exhibited  in 
its  right  light,  will  not  be  out  of  place  here. 

The  first  question  that  proposes  itself  is :  "  What  are  the 
principal  utterances  of  the  infant  ?  "  those,  that  is,  which  are 
more  or  less  common  to  all  children  alike,  and  in  which  we  can 
point  to  the  beginnings  of  human  efforts  after  culture. 

When  a  child  is  born  into  the  world,  its  first  utterances  are 
in  the  form  of  movements — outward  movements  of  his  arms 
and  legs,  and  inner  movements  in  the  shape  of  screams.  All 
!  development  must  go  on  through  movement.  Before  a  human 
being  can  in  any  degree  begin  to  take  possession  of  himself  and 
of  the  outward  world,  his  physical  powers  and  organs  must  be 
to  some  extent  unfolded  ;  and  thence  it  is  that  in  the  early  years 
of  life  physical  development  takes  the  lead.  The  child  of  but 
a  few  months  old,  lying  in  its  cradle,  plays  with  its  limbs,  pulls 


26  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

about  its  feet  and  fingers,  strikes  out  its  arms  and  legs,  and 
thus  makes  its  first  acquaintance  with  its  outward  form,  which 
in  this  way  only  can  be  impressed  on  its  mind.  As  soon  as  the 
child  can  walk,  its  greatest  need  again  is  movement.  To  run 
hither  and  thither,  to  traverse  the  same  ground  in  a  dozen  dif- 
ferent cross  and  roundabout  ways ;  to, touch,  handle,  and  examine 
everything  with  the  ever  restless  hands,  all  this  is  common  to 
every  healthy  child  ;  and  the  greater  its  strength  the  greater  its 
need  for  bodily  exertion,  which  vents  itself  in  running,  jumping, 
climbing,  wrestling,  throwing,  and  lifting;  and  in  the  case  of 
boys  especially,  urges  on  to  a  variety  of  games  which  develop 
strength  and  skill.  No  such  object,  however,  is  present  to  the 
child's  consciousness,  who  is  simply  driven  by  his  impulses,  the 
satisfaction  of  which  causes  him  amusement  and  joy.  What- 
ever affords  pleasure  to  children  in  general,  and  in  all  times, 
conduces  always  to  their  development  in  some  way  or  other. 

To  forward  physical  development  is  thus  the  principal  end  of 
the  child's  activity.  And  do  we  not  see  a  like  process  going  on 
amongst  savage  uncultivated  races ;  corporal  exercises,  and 
exertions,  the  object  of  which  is  generally  to  supply  their 
needs,  form  the  chief  scope  of  their  actions  ?  The  commence- 
ment of  history  with  the  heroic  age  exhibits  in  like  manner 
bodily  strength  and  skill  as  the  highest  aim  of  action,  only 
here  we  have  in  addition  the  goal  of  heroic  deeds,  which  were 
not  merely  concerned  with  material,  egoistic  needs,  but  also, 
and  chiefly,  with  beloved  human  beings,  and  before  all  with  the 
home  and  family.  The  putting  forth  of  strength,  the  over- 
coming of  obstacles  or  enemies,  are  always  the  highest  pleasure 
of  youth  and  early  manhood.  And  even  in  middle  age  we  still 
see  the  tournament,  the  duel,  and  the  chase  replacing  to  some 
measure  as  sport,  the  business  of  warfare.  Nothing  shows 
more  clearly  that  the  development  of  the  physical  powers  con- 
stitated  the  highest  happiness  of  mankind  in  its  infancy,  than 
the  idea  of  a  future  life  contained  in  Northern  mythology,  viz., 
that  the  dead  would  divide  their  existence  in  Walhalla  between 
fighting  and  banqueting,  and  that  the  wounds  received  in  battle 
would  heal  up  at  once,  and  the  slain  shortly  after  b3  drinking^ 
cheerily  at  the  feast. 


The  First  Utterances  of  the  Child.  2f 

The  members  and  organs  of  the  body  must  have  been  de- 
veloped up  to  a  certain  pitch,  before  they  can  serve  as  fit 
instruments  for  the  mind.  We  see  plainly  that  the  wise  direc- 
tion of  Providence  has  so  ordered  things,  that  every  human 
being  is  attracted  towards  the  kind  of  action  necessary  for  his 
special  development.  The  child  is  driven  by  an  inward  im- 
pulse, so  to  use  his  members  and  senses  in  his  play,  that 
these  are  developed  and  formed,  just  as  the  grown  man  in  a 
primitive  state  is  compelled  to  supply  his  own  bodily  wants  in 
order  that  his  bodily  powers  may  be  cultivated  and  made  fit  for 
a  higher  kind  of  activity.  But  every  human  being  must  take 
care  that  he  does  not  remain  at  the  mercy  of  these  impulses,  or 
he  will  degenerate,  be  led  on  to  that  which  we  call  evil,  and  lose 
sight  of  the  direction  which  would  have  conducted  him  to  the 
destined  end  of  his  development.  A  right  education  consists 
in  so  strengthening  and  encouraging  all  the  natural  dispositions 
of  a  child  that  they  may  conduce  to  the  end  which  nature  has 
set  before  them.  Our  modern  age,  which  makes  so  much  less 
demand  for  expenditure  of  corporal  strength,  furnishes  so  much 
less  opportunity  for  battling  with  outward  material  obstacles, 
imitates  the  Greeks,  though  by  no  means  universally  enough, 
in  using  gymnastics  as  a  means  of  physical  education  for  its 
youth,  but  there  is  no  similar  provision,  or  as  good  as  none, 
for  the  first  years  of  childhood,  except  where  Frobel's  Kinder- 
garter  system  is  in  vogue.  Hence  the  first  stage  in  the  process 
of  infant  development  is  called  "Exercises  of  the  Limbs."  | 

After  the  first  development  of  rude  strength,  that  of  skill  in 
handling  stands  out  as  the  chief  requisite  at  the  commencement 
of  human  culture.  Next  to  the  need  for  movement,  there  is 
none  so  great  in  the  early  years  of  childhood  as  that  of  using 
the  hands.  The  sense  of  touch  is  next  to  that  of  taste  (which 
is  itself  a  kind  of  touching  with  the  tongue),  the  dominant  one 
in  the  first  stage  of  sensual  growth.     ' 

At  the  beginning  of  life  there  is  very  little  distinction 
between  the  different  senses ;  they  are  all  more  or  less 
fused  together.  The  feeble  capacity  for  work  which  any 
single  sense  possesses,  necessitates  the  co-operation  of  all, 
when  one  is  called  upon  to  act.     It  is  well  known  that  children 


2S  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

Tnnst  always  touch  everything ;  and  not  children  only ;  all  rongh, 
uncultivated  grown  people  are  not  satisfied  with  seeing  an 
■object,  they  must  also  bring  their  sense  of  touch  in  various 
ways  to  their  assistance,  in  order  to  understand  exactly  the 
nature  of  the  object. 

In  order  that  this  most  necessary  member  may  be  prepared 
for  future  work,  nature  encourages  the  child  to  use  its  hands 
incessantly  in  its  play.     Nothing  is  more  contrary  to  nature 

(than  to  forbid  a  young  child  the  use  of  its  hands,  as  is  so  often 
done  in  infant  institutions.  In  order  that  they  may  keep  their 
attention  steadily  fixed  on  the  subject  of  instruction,  generally 
premature  and  quite  out  of  proportion  to  the  children's  stage  of 
<ievelopment,  they  are  condemned  to  keep  their  hands  folded,  or 
crossed  behind  their  backs.  Through  this  indication  of  nature, 
Frobel  has  discovered  the  right  method  of  riveting  a  child's 
attention,  viz.,  connecting  all  the  instruction  imparted  to  it  with 
the  use  of  the  hands.  The  hand  is  the  natural  sceptre  which 
raises  man  to  the  position  of  sovereign  of  the  earth.  With  his 
hand  man  has  fashioned  for  himself  all  his  weapons  of  self- 
defence,  whereas  animals  are  provided  with  them  by  nature  ; 
with  his  hand  he  has  made  all  the  implements  needful  for 
mastering  the  forces  and  materials  of  nature,  and  for  procuring 
the  necessaries  and  ornaments  of  his  life.  Without  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  hand,  industry  and  art  would  be  impossibilities. 
But  the  marvellous  organism  of  this  member  would  not  alone 
have  been  sufficient  to  produce  the  wonders  of  industrial  art ; 
for  this  the  guiding  co-operation  of  the  mind  was  necessary. 
The  activity  of  human  beings  differs  in  this  from  that  of 
animals,  that  it  is  worlc  in  the  full  sense  of  the  word,  that  the 
fingers  are  moved  by  the  mind,  and  are  obliged  to  carry  out  its 
n  plans  and  ideas.  Therefore  work  is  not  a  curse,  but  the  highest 
I  blessing  of  mankind,  and  that  which  confers  on  it  its  nobility. 
The  play  of  children  is  for  them,  at  the  same  time,  work,  for 
it  serves  to  develop  their  members,  senses,  and  organs.  After 
the  first  unregulated  feeling  and  grasping  of  their  little  hands, 
their  favourite  occupation  is  to  dabble  in  some  soft  mess — earth, 
«and,  or  what  not — and  to  try  their  skill  at  shaping  and  pro- 
ducing.    Modelling  is  one  of  the  first  necessities  of  child-naturo. 


(( 


The  First  Utterances  of  the  Child.  29 

But  even  this  instinct,  if  left  to  itself,  will  lead  to  no  end: 
education  must  supply  the  material  and  guidance  necessaiy 
for  its  development,  must  convert  the  aimless  touching  and 
fumbling  into  systematic  construction,  and  direct  the  mere 
instinct  into  a  channel  of  useful  activity,  all  of  which  is  done 
in  the  Kindergarten. 

The  first  and  easiest  kind  of  construction,  after  the  forms  in 
clay  and  sand,  is  building.  After  the  child  has  grubbed  itself 
holes  in  sandhills,  it  goes  a  step  further  and  builds  houses,  or 
whatever  else  its  fancy  may  be  able  to  invent  in  the  way  of 
architecture — and  connected  with  this  building  are  all  manner 
of  efforts  towards  the  creation  of  a  diminutive  industry.  The 
never-lessening  fascination  for  all  children  of  the  adventures  of 
Robinson  Crusoe  is  chiefly  due  to  the  depiction  of  the  strivings 
after  culture  of  a  solitary  individual,  in  which  children  see 
their  own  strivings  reflected  as  in  a  mirror. 

One  of  the  first  ways  in  which  human  skill  showed  itself  was 
undoubtedly  in  the  erection  of  dwelling-places  that  would  afford 
sufficient  protection  when  natural  holes  in  rocks  or  under  the 
earth,  or  mud-huts  in  woods,  were  no  longer  enough.  But  when, 
through  the  improvement  of  the  tools  employed,  their  work 
progresses  from  its  first  rough  outlines,  and  as  the  combinations 
of  which  the  mind  is  capable  multiply,  and  form  perfects 
itself,  there  awakes  in  the  child  (as  formerly  in  our  ancestors) 
a  feeling  for  the  beautiful.  This  feeling  is  no  doubt  in  part 
awakened  even  earlier  by  the  influence  which  the  forms  and 
colours  of  natural  objects  exercise  even  on  the  least-formed 
character.  Everything  glittering,  bright,  or  gaudy,  excites  plea- 
sure in  the  child  as  in  the  savage ;  and  in  order  to  produce  itself' 
pleasure  of  this  sort  the  child,  in  its  own  handiwork,  feels  more 
and  more  after  the  laws  of  rhythm  and  harmony,  which,  long 
before  it  can  apprehend,  it  dimly  and  unconsciously  forebodes. 
Observation  of  nature  furnishes  the  patterns  which  the 
awakened  creative  spirit  will  idealize,  and  Art  is  bom  in  the 
human  soul,  whether  its  expression  be  through  form,  colour,  or 
sound. 

But  it  is  not  only  shaping  and  modelling  that  childish  hands 
practise  instinctively — drawing  and  paintin^^ggbgjg^attempted 

"giriyBiisiTTl 


30  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

by  them.  As  Frobel  says,  the  child  first  perceives  the  linear — 
the  outlines  of  objects.  Whoever  observes  the  actions  of  children 
will  sen  how  they  almost  invariably  feel  all  round  objects  with 
their  fingers — take  in,  so  to  say,  by  touch,  the  contours  of  tables, 
chairs,  and  other  articles  of  furniture,  sketch  the  outline  of  their 
own  hands  and  fingers  in  pencil,  and  so  forth.  The  unpractised 
eye  of  a  child  will  at  first  take  in  only  the  principal  lines  of 
objects,  and  of  these  first  the  straight  ones,  before  it  can  master 
curves,  surfaces,  and  filling  in. 

We  notice  the  same  characteristics  in  the  people  who  first 
practised  the  science  of  architecture.  Their  drawings  consist  of 
outlines — linear  representations — in  straight  strokes,  without 
curves  or  perspective,  as  in  the  first  attempts  of  children. 

The  awakening  of  the  sense  of  sound  can  perhaps  be  traced 
back  to  the  earliest  moments  of  a  child's  life,  for  even  before  it 
can  speak  it  stammers  out  rhythmic  tones.  It  is  this  instinctive 
need  of  rhythm  in  children  which  calls  forth  from  mothers  and 
nurses  their  cradle-songs,  and  causes  the  rhythmic  rocking  and 
lulling  of  infants  in  their  cradles  and  in  the  arms. 

Attention  to  the  differences  of  sound  is  one  of  Uie  first  awaken- 
ings of  children,  and  early  instruction  in  song  avowedly  one  of 
the  most  effectual  means  of  education.  Savages,  like  children, 
have  the  keenest  desire  fcT*  song  and  dance — i.e.,  for  rhythmic 
sound  and  movement.  E-hythm  is  one  of  the  great  fundamental 
principles  of  all  that  is  expressed  in  the  motion  of  the  spheres, 
the  flight  of  birds,  the  course  of  the  deer,  in  the  excitement  of 
the  dance,  and  the  whole  wide  harmony  of  creation  and  of 
human  genius.  The  civilization  of  mankind,  as  of  individual 
man,  without  the  cultivation  of  the  beautiful,  is  unthinkable — 
and  music  is  before  all  other  arts  the  awakening  of  the 
heart. 

Before,  however,  the  child  has  arrived  at  the  production  of 
his  first  little  works  of  art,  we  may  have  noticed  him  grubbing 
in  the  earth,  or  transfixed  in  admiration  of  some  animal  or 
flower :  nature  has  already  worked  upon  him  in  various  ways. 
It  is  not  only  to  the  fresh  living  air  that  children  of  the  ten- 
•derest  years  stretch  out  their  hands  so  joyfully,  when  the  mother 
or  the  nurse  produces  hat  and  cloak  to  take  them  out  of  doors. 


The  First  Utterances  of  the  Child,  31 

The  forms  and  immediate  impressions  of  surrounding  nature 
already  afford  the  infant  being  pleasure  and  delight. 

When  free  use  of  the  limbs  has  been  gained,  all  children  who 
are  not  prevented  from  so  doing  will  be  seen  grubbing  in  the 
garden  soil,  throwing  up  mounds,  and  little  by  little  making 
themselves  small  gardens  of  their  own.  At  first  the  little  spade, 
which  accompanies  the  child  out  of  doors,  is  only  used  for  heap- 
ing up  sand  and  stones,  as  an  exercise  of  strength  without  aim. 
As  soon,  however,  as  any  power  of  observation  has  begun  to 
supplement  the  merely  instinctive  movements,  there  is  awakened 
tin  impulse  to  till  the  ground  and  to  make  use  of  the  productive 
force  of  nature  ;  thus  the  child  in  its  play,  and  thus  man  in  the 
earliest  stages  of  civilization,  seeks  to  obtain  better  and  more 
plentiful  nourishment.  Even  though  the  instinct  which  moves 
the  child  to  enclose  its  little  garden  with  sticks  be  an  undefined 
one,  it  is  nevertheless  that  out  of  which  the  science  of  agri- 
culture has  arisen — the  instinct,  or  n^ed  of  possession. 

Without  possession,  without  ownership,  the  individuality  of 
man  would  never  have  been  fully  stamped.     Ownership  widens  I 
personality  by  giving  it  power  to  work,  means  to  carry  out  its  I 
will,  and  at  the  same  time  to  satisfy  the  feeling  of  fellow-love  * 
by  sharing  its  goods  with  others. 

Were  it  not  for  the  impulse  which  led  him  to  agriculture, 
man  would  never  have  forsaken  his  nomadic  life,  would  never 
have  founded  towns  and  communities,  would  never  have  carried  '\ 
development  as  far  as  the  nation^  and  never  have  experienced  the 
love  of  country. 

It  may  seem  to  many  ridiculous  to  pretend  to  see  in  the  first 
little  territorial  possession  of  the  child  the  starting-point  of 
the  love  of  one's  country,  and  yet  it  is  an  undeniable  truth  that 
all  and  everything  which  is  of  importance  in  human  life,  be  it 
little  or  great,  has  had  its  beginning  in  unnoticed  utterances 
which  have  been  the  germs  of  future  developments.  The 
largest  tree  may  have  sprung  from  the  least  perceptible  seed, 
And  the  greatest  human  action  slumbers  in  the  first  sensations 
of  the  infant  soul.  Is  not  the  love  of  one's  own  hearth  the  seed 
of  the  love  of  one's  country  ? 

But  if  bodily  wants  have  been  the  first  spurs  to  all  human 


32  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

culture,  it  is  also  unmistakably  noticeable  tbrougli  tbe  course- 
of  history,  that  by  the  side  of  every  material  need  there  is  also 
a  spiritual  claim  which  makes  itself  felt.  The  tending  and 
nurturing  of  that  which  serves  firstly  to  satisfy  selfish  require- 
ments, must  at  the  same  time  awaken  love.  For  whatever  man 
carefully  tends,  the  object  or  the  being  to  whom  he  devotes  his 
care,  for  whom  he  works,  he  also  learns  to  love.  That  child 
would  be  a  degenerate  one  that  did  not  bestow  its  loving  care 
on  some  objects  or  beings,  were  it  at  first  only  its  playthings. 
With  what  tenderness  do  girls  love  their  dolls,  boys  their  toy- 
horses  !  but  from  these  inanimate  things — which  are  only  alive 
in  childish  fancy — their  affections  are  soon  transferred  to  the 
animals  of  the  house,  and  the  flowers  of  the  garden.  To  the 
child  who  has  never  called  a  piece  of  ground  its  own,  has  never 
tilled  it  in  the  sweat  of  its  brow,  has  never  expended  its  fostering 
love  on  plants  and  animals,  there  will  always  be  a  gap  in  the 
development  of  the  soul,  and  it  will  be  difficult  for  that  child 
to  attain  the  capacity  for  human  nurture  in  a  comprehensive 
sense.  All  tending  and  fostering  require  self-mastery  and  self- 
denial,  and  these  are  only  learnt  by  gradual  exercise,  beginning 
with  the  little  and  mounting  up  to  the  great.  Out  of  the  soil 
which  he  tilled  with  labour  and  care,  there  accrued  to  man  his 
first  rights  over  the  planet  inhabited  by  him,  and  the  first  page 
of  his  later  law-book  contains  the  following  principle  :  "  Duties 
and  rights  should  correspond  to  one  another." 

Not  till  the  child  has  to  a  certain  extent  mastered  the  use  of 
its  limbs  and  senses,  and  its  spontaneity  and  faculties  of  observa- 
iion  have  been  awakened,  enabling  it  to  make  all  manner  of 
little  experiments,  not  till  then  does  the  desire  for  knowledge 
(generally  called  curiosity)  assert  itself.  True,  this  desire  lies 
already  at  the  bottom  of  the  first  groping  and  feeling  of  th& 
hands,  but  it  only  then  awakens  with  anything  like  distinctness, 
when  the  child  begins  to  search  into  the  causes  of  things  and 
appearances  with  its  thousand  times  repeated,  "  Why,  whence, 
and  wherefore."  It  must  first  have  taken  in  from  the  outward 
world  a  series  of  impressions,  images,  and  ideas,  before  thoughts 
will  germinate  jn  its  mind.  In  order  to  hnoii\  the  child  makes 
experiments :  it  knocks  different  objects  together,  or  throws 


The  First  Utterances  of  the  Child.  33 

tliem  on  the  ground,  to  test  tlie  solidity  of  their  material ;  it  finds 
out  their  taste  with  its  tongue  ;  tears  or  breaks  them  up  to  see 
what  they  are  like  inside,  and  by  hundreds  of  like  experiments 
searches  out  the  nature  and  use  of  things. 

To  observation  and  investigation  follows  the  compai'ison  of 
one  thing  with  another,  and  by  comparison  a  perception  of  size, 
form,  colour,  number,  &c.,  is  arrived  at.  What  child  is  there 
that  does  not  measure  the  length  and  breadth  of  different  articles, 
that  does  not  ask  :  "  which  of  them  is  the  largest  ? "  What 
child  does  not  delight  in  counting  the  objects  with  which  it  is 
occupied  ?  in  asking  their  names  and  uses  ?  Unfortunately  the 
answers  given  to  a  child's  eager  inquiries  are  too  often  only 
empty  words  little  calculated  to  satisfy  them.  It  is  not  words 
alone,  but  above  all  demonstrations,  which  can  furnish  answers 
adapted  to  a  child's  understanding ;  instruction  in  observation 
must  begin  with  its  earliest  games,  and  not  only  at  school. 
How  brightly  a  child's  eyes  will  sparkle  at  every  fresh  discovery, 
be  it  only  a  shining  stone  or  a  new  wild-flower  that  it  has  found ; 
its  joy  over  every  fresh  addition  to  its  store  of  knowledge,  to 
its  treasure-house  of  ideas,  is  often,  though  it  may  express 
itself  differently,  no  less  than  that  of  the  wise  man  of  antiquity, 
who,  with  the  words,  "  I  have  discovered  it,"  fell  senseless  to 
the  ground.  Just  as  children,  when  the  desire  for  knowledge 
first  wakens  in  them,  begin  by  occupying  themselves  with  the 
relations  of  space,  with  size  and  number,  so  did  the  learning  of 
mankind  begin  with  the  elements  of  mathematics.  The  sole 
book  which  they  could  interrogate  at  the  beginning  of  their 
development,  was  nature;  the  observation  and  imitation  of 
nature  led  from  invention  to  invention,  each  of  which  increased 
the  sum  of  knowledge,  and  widened  the  mental  horizon.  With 
a  knowledge  of  nature — however  superficial  it  may  have  been, 
and  based  merely  on  appearances — did  the  learning  of  mankind 
begin,  and  the  learning  of  children  must  begin  in  like  manner. 
It  was  inevitable  that  the  first  deductions  from  this  experi- 
mental knowledge  should  lead  to  mathematical  conclusions, 
should  consist  in  the  measurement  of  compared  objects.  Not  till 
things  had  been  classified  according  to  their  size  and  number, 
could  they  present  themselves  clearly  to  the  understanding. 


34  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

As  the  cliild  carries  on  its  first  geograpliical  observations  by 
tbe  exploration  of  the  garden  and  the  nearest  environs  of  its 
dwelling-place,  so  the  geographical  knowledge  of  infant 
mankind  began  with  the  investigation  of  the  neighbouring 
tracts  of  land:  their  soil,  their  products,  their  climates,  &c. 
With  the  history  of  the  family,  the  patriarchs,  began  the  his- 
tory of  the  world.  What  do  children  love  more  to  hear  than 
the  stories  of  family  adventures,  what  their  parents  and  grand- 
parents did,  all  that  happened  in  their  childhood,  how  they 
lived  "  when  they  were  little  ?  "  It  is  one  of  the  first  thoughts 
that  occurs  to  a  child,  whether  others  were  like  what  he  him- 
self is,  whether  they,  too,  were  once  little.  It  was  possibly  this 
thought  which  once  moved  a  child  to  ask  the  question,  "  if  God 
had  once  been  a  little  boy  ?  "  Children  only  understand  what 
they  can  refer  back  to  themselves,  for  they  can  only  start  from 
themselves. 

But  all  these  degrees  of  development,  which  we  have  pointed 
out,  could  only  be  reached  by  mankind  (and  the  same  applies 
to  the  child)  in  connection  with  his  fellow-men,  through  the 
bond  of  society.  The  instinct  of  fellowship  distinguishes  even 
the  higher  races  of  animals  from  the  lower,  and  is  the  deepest 
and  most  universal  instinct  of  human  nature,  the  source  and 
the  means  of  all  his  culture  and  civilization.  Only  by  means 
of  association  can  man  conquer  time  and  space,  subdue  to  his 
own  uses  the  forces  of  nature,  and  make  himself  more  and 
more  the  all-powerful  ruler  of  the  earth,  which  he  shall,  in 
time,  permeate  and  dominate  even  as  God  permeates  and  domi- 
nates the  universe. 

The  social  impulse  shows  itself  as  early  as  the  first  months 
of  a  child's  existence.  No  child  likes  to  be  alone ;  it  screams 
in  its  cradle  if  it  thinks  no  human  being  is  near  it,  and  is 
quieted  by  the  least  word  of  kindly  speech.  But  it  is  not 
merely  the  society  of  human  beings  in  general  that  it  wants — 
it  needs  especially  that  of  its  like,  of  children  who  are  at  the 
same  stage  of  development,  that  is  to  say,  of  children  of  its 
own  age.  A  child  that  has  spent  its  childhood  with  grown-up 
people  only  will  never  possess  the  freshness  and  youthful  joyous- 
ness  which  are  awakened  by  life  in  a  community ;  and  prema- 


The  First  Utterances  of  the  Child.  35 

ture  seriousness,  if  not  melancholj,  will  stamp  its  young 
features.  What  happy  smiles,  what  beaming  eyes,  does  one  not 
see  in  even  the  youngest  children,  when  they  catch  sight  of 
other  children  as  young  as  themselves.  The  play  of  children 
with  each  other  forms  the  first  basis  of  all^  and  more  espe- 
cially of  tlieir,  moral  cultivation.  "Without  the  love  of  his 
kind,  without  all  the  manifold  relations  of  man  to  man,  all 
morality,  all  culture,  would  inevitably  collapse ;  in  the  instinct 
of  fellowship  lies  the  origin  of  state,  of  church,  and  of  all  that 
makes  human  life  what  it  is. 

But  it  is  not  only  the  morality  of  man  which  rests  so  closely 
on  association,  it  is  his  religion  also. 

According  to  Frobel  the  first  religious  instincts  of  children 
show  themselves  in  their  eagerness  to  join  all  gatherings  of 
grown-up  people ;  this  Frobel  attributes  to  an  undefined  feeling 
that  there  is  a  common  striving,  a  common  idea  uniting  all  the 
different  individuals  and  causing  them  to  assemble  together. 
Thus,  in  the  streets,  or  anywhere  else,  children  will  be  seen 
flocking  to  any  spot  where  several  people  are  gathered  together ; 
nothing  delights  children  more  than  to  be  allowed  to  join  in 
gatherings  of  grown-up  people,  however  much  constraint  be 
enforced  upon  them.  The  pleasure  of  the  first  visit  to  church 
has  more  to  do  with  the  delight  in  a  concourse  of  many  people 
than  with  the  understanding  of  what  is  going  on,  or  the  partici- 
pation in  the  spirit  of  the  devotions,  which  the  child  is  quite 
incapable  of  entering  into.  No  doubt  this  is  only  the  first  uncon- 
scious aspiration  penetrating  the  child's  soul,  and  with  it  is 
bound  up  at  the  same  time  the  love  of  mankind,  which  always 
precedes  the  love  of  God.  It  is  only  the  love  of  its  mother,  of 
its  parents,  of  those  nearest  to  it,  which  can  lead  the  young 
soul  to  God;  out  of  this  feeling  is  bom  the  first  spark  of 
religious  aspiration.  As  every  sensation,  and  all  other  knowledge 
rest  immediately  on  instinct,  so,  too,  does  religious  knowledge. 
Frobel's  statement  that  by  repeatedly  observing  how  children, 
scarcely  a  year  old,  when  being  amused  with  a  ball  fastened  to 
a  string,  will  quickly  take  their  eyes  off  the  revolving  ball  and 
follow  the  string  till  they  come  to  the  hand  which  is  turning 
it,  he  became  convinced  that  even  a  child's  instinct  will  drive 

D  2 


S6  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

it  from  the  contemplation  of  the  appearance  of  things  to  the 
investigation  of  their  cause,  may  be  little  instructive  to  those 
who  do  not  concede  to  childish  utterances  a  psychological  basis. 
And  yet  no  thinker  will  deny  that  all  the  conscious  utterances 
of  humanity  have  risen  out  of  unconscious  ones.  But  in  this 
concession  there  is,  to  a  certain  extent,  an  acknowledgment  of 
F rebel's  idea,  that  every  conception  of  the  mature  mind  has  its 
root-point  in  an  instinctive  idea  of  the  child's  mind,  which,  being 
awakened  by  outward  phenomena,  shows  itself  first  as  a  blind 
impulse ;  and  that,  therefore,  all  instruction  must  start  with 
the  concrete  and  mount  up  to  abstract  thought.  Frobel  says  : 
"  From  objects  to  pictures — from  pictures  to  symbols — from 
symbols  to  ideas,  leads  the  ladder  of  knowledge."  And  Pesta- 
lozzi  expresses  the  same  idea  in  the  words  :  "  There  is  nothing 
in  the  mind  which  has  not  passed  into  it  through  the  senses." 

The  first  intimation  of  a  higher  being  came  to  mankind  in 
the  beginnings  of  its  development — as  it  still  does  to  the  child 
— through  the  impressions  of  the  visible  world  of  nature.  Man 
felt  his  own  weakness  in  the  presence  of  the  giant  forces  of 
Nature,  contemplated  while  still  in  the  fermentation  stage  of  its 
development,  and  bowed  tremblingly  before  its  unknown  ruler. 
He  saw  that  he  himself  and  his  existence  were  dependent  on 
the  bounty  and  beneficence  of  this  Nature,  which,  like  a  loving 
mother  showered  all  manner  of  blessings  on  him,  and  so  he  loved 
her  in  return,  and  worshipped  her  through  symbols  chosen  from 
her  own  treasure-house,  till  at  last,  as  he  became  to  a  certain 
extent  acquainted  with  himself  and  his  own  being,  he  humanized 
the  soul  of  nature  after  an  ideal  standard,  and  worshipped  and 
feared  it  in  the  shape  of  his  false  gods. 

Who  made  all  the  trees  and  flowers,  birds  and  sheep  ?  wha 
made  my  father  and  mother  ?  asks  the  child,  seeking  after  the 
causes  of  things,  because  he  is  himself  the  beginning  of  a 
thinking,  reasonable  being.  The  roaring  of  the  thunder  makes 
him  tremble  like  the  savages — he  imagines  it  to  be  the  voice  of 
a  higher  power ;  the  reviving  breath  of  spring  fills  him  with  an 
undefined  sensation  of  wonder,  and  awakes  in  him  forebodings 
of  the  invisible  Benefactor  whose  visible  image  he  loves  in  his 
parents.     A  child,  with  his  lap  full  of    sweet-smelling  flowera 


The  First  Utterances  of  the  Child.  37 

which  he  is  going  to  weave  into  a  garland,  sits  on  the  grass 
under  a  blossoming  apple-tree  in  which  the  birds  are  warbling 
their  spring  song;  the  warm  rays  of  the  sun  penetrate  his 
being,  a  cooling  wind  plays  gently  round  his  face  and  showers 
over  him  the  white  blossoms  of  the  tree;  a  flood  of  newly 
experienced  bliss  uplifts  his  soul,  and  his  lips  gently  whisper : 
"  It  is  the  good  God  who  is  passing  by  " — the  first  revelation  of 
the  deity  has  entered  his  soul. 

All  religion  begins  with  natural  religion,  but  the  God  in 
nature  must  also  be  recognized  in  man,  though  this  will  not  be 
till  the  God  in  nature  has  been  apprehended.  The  development 
of  nature  and  the  development  of  mankind  are  mutually  sym- 
bolic one  of  the  other,  and  correspond  in  their  different  stages 
to  the  various  stages  of  belief  in  God,  through  which  mankind 
and  the  individual  pass.  That  is  to  say,  the  spiritual  develop- 
ment of  the  human  soul  proceeds  according  to  the  same  system 
of  laws  as  the  development  of  the  organisms  of  nature — for 
both  have  a  common  creator.  And  not  only  do  they  follow  the 
same  laws  of  development,  but  the  sequence  of  stages  is  the 
same  in  both  cases ;  everything  ascends  from  the  less  to  the 
greater.  The  budding-season  of  spring  represents  childhood; 
the  blossom-time  of  summer,  youth ;  the  fruits  of  harvest,  the 
maturity  of  manhood ;  and  the  decay  of  winter,  that  of  old  age. 
Everywhere  in  the  world  of  nature  we  find  analogies  to  the  life 
of  the  human  soul.  All  natural  phenomena  correspond  to  ideas, 
incorporate  thoughts,  and  thus  receive  a  higher  meaning;  or 
are  the  signs  of  spiritual  truths  to  which  they  give  expression. 
Thus  they  may  be  called  Symbols. 

The  profound  understanding  shown  by  Frobel  of  the  path 
which  education  must  follow,  in  order,  in  this  aspect  also,  to 
keep  in  relation  to  human  nature,  will  be  more  closely  examined 
later  on  in  this  work. 

The  utterances  of  all  children  are  the  same,  and  their  origin 
is  the  same,  for  they  are  based  on  inborn  natural  impulses. 
But  Nature  does  nothing  in  vain,  nothing  without  an  object ; 
all  instincts  which  have  not  been  deflected  from  their  natural 
direction  have  but  this  one  end  :  to  further  the  development  of 
the  organization  of  nature,  or  of  the  human  individual. 


38  A  New  Method  of  Education, 

The  child  plays,  is  constrained  to  play,  in  order  to  develop 
itself.  Its  play  is  activity  intended  to  awaken,  strengthen,  and 
form  its  powers  and  talents,  so  that  it  may  be  able  to  fulfil  its 
destiny  as  a  grown  being. 

In  like  manner  the  combined  activity  of  mankind — the 
results  of  which  appear  in  the  progressive  stages  of  civiliza- 
tion in  the  past  and  the  present — can  have  no  other  end  but  the 
realization  of  perfected  humanity  through  the  development  of 
all  that  concerns  mankind,  or,  in  other  words,  the  fulfilment  of 
the  divine  idea  of  humanity.  But  humanity  is  made  up  of  in- 
dividual men,  and  thus  it  follows  of  necessity,  that  the  life's 
aim  of  the  latter  must  be  the  same  as  that  of  the  community 
of  which  they  are  members. 

No  one  thinks  of  denying  that  the  individual  plant,  or  the 
individual  animal,  develops  itself  according  to  the  laws  of  its 
tribe.  And  it  is  only  because  we  understand  how  the  develop- 
ment of  the  tribe  and  family  of  a  plant  or  an  animal  proceeds 
that  we  know  how  to  manage  the  individual  specimens. 
According  to  the  various  modifications  of  this  natural  method 
of  treatment,  is  the  special,  individual  character  of  animals 
stamped  on  them ;  and  this  shows  itself  most  distinctly  in 
house-dogs.  Amongst  the  same  tribe  of  dogs,  for  instance,  one 
may  be  much  more  obedient,  faithful  and  dependent,  or  more 
vicious  and  faithless,  than  others. 

The  utterances  of  every  different  being  bear,  likewise,  the 
stamp  of  the  tribe  to  which  it  belongs,  and  man  is  no  exception 
to  the  rule.  It  follows,  therefore,  that  the  instinctive,  involun- 
tary expressions  and  actions,  which  are  common  to  all  the  in- 
dividuals of  a  race,  must  serve  the  natural  end  of  their  develop- 
ment. 

The  child  is  as  little  conscious  of  this  end  as  is  the  savage  in 
a  state  of  nature,  or  the  uncultivated  grown  being,  but  both 
are  driven  and  led  by  inward  impulses  and  outward  attractions 
to  procure  the  satisfaction  of  their  needs,  first  in  order  to  pre- 
serve themselves  in  existence,  and  then  to  attain  the  highest 
possible  state  of  well-being.  The  exertions  and  practices 
necessary  to  this  end  are  at  the  same  time  the  means  of  their 
culture. 


The  First  Utterances  of  the  Child.  39 

The  history  of  the  development  of  mankind  teaches  ns  how 
the  bodily  necessities,  food,  clothing,  shelter  from  inclement 
weather,  danger,  &c.,  and  later  on  the  spiritual  needs,  social 
intercourse,  desire  after  the  true  and  the  beautiful,  spurred  men 
on  to  the  discovery  of  all  that  constitutes  our  present  posses- 
sions in  industry,  art,  and  science. 

Just  as  mankind  through  its  stage  of  unconsciousness  was 
prepared  for  a  succeeding  higher  stage  of  development  and 
culture,  till  it  should  attain  to  self -consciousness  and  knowledge 
of  its  destiny,  so  does  the  playful  activity  of  the  child  prepare 
it  for  its  later  conscious  existence.  But  this  end  will  only  be 
accomplished  when  education  holds  out  to  the  instinctive  feeling 
and  groping  of  childhood  the  necessary  guidance,  and  the  fit 
material  to  work  on.  .  To  do  this  is  the  object  of  Frobel's  Kin- 
dergarten, which  follows  out  in  miniature  the  chief  features  of 
the  history  of  human  culture,  places  in  the  way  of  children 
wsimilar  experiences,  and  thus  prepares  them  for,  and  makes  them 
capable  of,  understanding  the  life  of  the  present  day,  which  is 
an  outcome  of  the  past. 

It  need  hardly  be  said,  that  by  the  following  of  the  Iiistory 
of  culture  we  do  not  mean  the  depiction  of  the  different  epochs 
of  culture,  or  of  the  nationalities  which  represent  them  (as  is 
often  erroneously  thought),  but  such  a  course  of  instructional 
activity  as  shall  reproduce  in  miniature  in  the  work  of  the 
child  the  progressive  development  of  the  race,  as  manifested  in 
the  work  of  mankind. 


40  A  New  MetJiod  of  Education. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE     REQUISITES    OF  EDUCATION    IN    GENERAL   AND   FROBEL's   THEORY 
OF    EDUCATION. 

**Ziel  der  Natur  ist  Entwickelnng.  Ziel  der  gei-tigpn  Welt :  Bildung.  Das 
Problem  dieser  Welt  ist  ein  Bildungsproblem,  dessen  Losung  nach  bestimmten 
gottlichen  Gesetzen  vor  sich  geht." 

"The  purpose  of  nature  is  development.  The  purpose  of  the  spiritual  world 
is  culture.  The  problem  of  this  world  is  an  educational  one,  the  solution  of 
which  is  proceeding  according  to  fixed  divine  laws. " 

Education  is  emancipation — the  setting  free  of  the  bound-up 
forces  of  the  body  and  the  soul.  The  inner  conditions  necessary 
to  this  setting  free  or  development  all  healthily-born  children 
bring  with  them  into  the  world,  the  outer  ones  must  be  supplied 
to  them — and  that  through  education, 

If  in  the  spring  the  hard  coverings  of  plants  are  to  burst 
open  so  that  the  buds  of  leaves  and  blossoms  may  be  set  free 
and  sprout,  air  and  sunlight,  rain  and  dew  must  be  supplied  to 
them.  The  inner  force  will  be  sufficient  to  break  open  the 
shells  if  the  outward  conditions  are  not  wanting.  In  nature 
every  necessity  or  want  meets  with  corresponding  satisfaction, 
and  this  without  conscious  will  or  exertion  according  to  un- 
changing laws  and  principles.  The  course  of  the  sap  in  plants, 
which  ascends  and  descends  regularly  from  the  root  to  the 
blossom,  and  by  a  continual  process  of  expansion  and  contraction 
forms  the  leaf -buds,  corresponds  to  the  course  of  the  blood  in 
animal  and  human  organisms,  starting  from  the  heart  and  re- 
turning to  the  heart,  and  in  the  action  of  the  ventricles  of  the 
heart  exhibiting  in  like  manner  expansion  and  contraction. 

Everything  in  the  kingdom  of  nature,  however  different  the 
stages   of  progress  may   be,  comes  under   one  universal   law 


The  Requisites  of  Education  in  General.  41 

and  development  means  the  same  as  progress  according  to  law, 
— systematic  going  on  from  tlie  unformed  to  the  formed,  from 
chaos  to  cosmos. 

And  as  does  the  physical  so  also  must  the  spiritual  develop- 
ment proceed  in  systematic  fashion,  or  education  would  be 
impossible.  For  what  we  call  education  is  influencing  the 
development  of  the  child,  guiding  and  regulating  it  as  well  in 
its  spiritual  as  in  its  physical  aspect.  But  how  common  a  thing 
it  is  to  hear  people  maintain  that  during  the  instinctive,  un- 
conscious period  of  a  child's  life,  it  should  be  left  to  follow 
its  impulses  entirely,  and  no  attempt  made  to  deal  with  it  sys- 
tematically. But,  as  the  soul  undoubtedly  begins  to  unfold  and 
form  itself  in  the  period  of  unconsciousness  in  the  same  sys- 
tematic manner  as  in  later  periods,  any  such  assertion  must  be 
erroneous  and  based  on  false  premises.  Spiritual  development 
must  proceed  in  as  regular  and  systematic  a  course  as  organic 
development,  seeing  that  the  physical  organs  are  intended  to 
correspond  as  implicitly  to  the  soul,  which  they  serve,  as  cause 
corresponds  to  effect.  Psychology  has  determined  the  order  of 
the  development  of  the  soul,  as  has  physiology  that  of  the  cir- 
culation of  the  blood,  but  the  former  science  has  chiefly  con- 
cerned itself  with  the  already  more  or  less  formed  soul  of  the 
adult,  which,  through  self-will  and  voluntary  deflection  from  the 
path  of  order,  is  always  to  a  certain  extent  the  slave  of  arbitra- 
riness, and  the  growth  of  the  soul  in  the  period  of  childhood 
has  been  little  studied  or  observed. 

Frobel  used  constantly  to  say  when  lecturing  :  "  If  you  want 
to  understand  clearly  the  regular  working  of  nature  you  must 
observe  the  common  wild  plants,  many  of  which  are  designated 
as  weeds :  it  is  seen  more  clearly  in  these  than  in  the  com- 
plexity of  cultivated  plants."  And  for  this  purpose  he  used  to 
grow  different  species  of  wild  plants  in  pots. 

The  same  holds  true  of  the  human  plant.  The  young  child's 
soul,  while  yet  in  its  primitive  and  instinctive  stage,  without 
forethought  and  without  artificiality,  exhibits  to  the  really 
seeing  and  understanding  observer  the  systematic  regularity,  the 
logic  of  nature's  dealings  in  her  development  process,  spite  of 
the  variety  of  individual  endowment. 


42  A  New  Method  of  Education, 

In  the  foregoing  essay  we  attempted  to  demonstrate  wliat 
may  be  called  the  imiversal  in  the  "  utterances"  of  child-nature, 
that  which  sets  the  stamp  of  the  race  on  each  individual. 
Through  these  utterances,  in  so  far  as  they  repeat  themselves  in 
each  individual  and  may  consequently  be  reduced  to  a  law,  we 
arrive  at  the  keynote  to  the  knowledge  of  the  natural  order  of 
child  development. 

Frobel  says;  "There  is  continuous  connection  in  the 
spiritual  life  as  a  whole,  as  there  is  universal  harmony  in 
nature."  And  certainly  it  cannot  be  otherwise :  the  eternal  law 
of  order,  which  reigns  throughout  the  universe,  must  also  deter- 
mine the  development  of  the  human  soul.  But  the  educator 
who  would  supply  the  human  bud  in  right  manner  with  light 
and  warmth,  rain  and  dew,  and  so  induce  it  to  emancipate 
itself  from  its  fettered  condition,  and  through  the  unfolding  of 
all  its  slumbering  forces  to  blossom  into  worthy  life,  must  not 
only  understand  the  law  but  must  also  possess  the  means  of 
acting  in  accordance  with  the  law  :  i.e.,  his  method  of  education 
must  follow  the  same  systematic  plan  as  nature  does,  and  the 
outward  practical  means  must  correspond  to  the  method. 

No  one  will  dispute  the  assertion  that  instruction  is  only 
worthy  of  the  name  when  it  is  methodical.  Instruction  of 
such  kind  is  a  branch  of  education  :  but  branch  and  stem 
spring  from  the  same  root.  However  much  may  have  been 
done,  from  the  days  of  antiquity  up  to  the  present  day,  to 
improve  educational  and  instructional  systems,  and  to  adapt 
them  more  closely  to  the  natural  process  of  development,  and 
thus  attain  the  result  aimed  at — knowledge — in  the  best  and 
quickest  manner,  the  laws  of  development  of  the  infant  mind 
are,  nevertheless,  still  veiled  in  obscurity.  No  infallible  chart 
has  yet  been  found,  which,  as  the  magnet  to  the  mariner,  will 
show  the  educator  invariably  the  right  direction  to  steer  in, 
spite  of  all  ebbs  and  flows,  spite  of  all  the  thousand  different 
courses  that  each  vessel,  each  character,  according  to  its  indi. 
vidual  destination,  has  to  strike  into.  But  so  long  as  soma 
such  fixed  method  of  education  remains  undiscovered,  so  long- 
will  even  the  best  education  be  more  or  less  an  arbitrary 
work. 


The  Requisites  of  Education  in  General.  43 

It  was  also  Pestalozzi's  chief  endeavour  to  discover  and 
apply  tliat  whicli  he  called  "  the  principle  of  the  organic,"  and 
to  him,  and  his  educational  forerunners,  are  we  indebted  for 
our  first  knowledge  of  the  course  of  child  development,  and 
for  the  means  by  which  education  and  instruction  have  been 
more  systematically  organized.  Without  their  preliminary 
efforts  Frobel  might  not,  perhaps,  have  discovered  the  method 
whereby  he  built  upon  the  foundation  laid  by  them,  apd 
brought  their,  and  more  especially  Pestalozzi's,  practical 
endeavours  to  completion.  In  like  manner  will  Frobel's 
successors  be  called  on  to  develop  further  what  he  has  laid  the 
foundation  of. 

In  one  of  his  letters  to  me,  Frobel  says :  "  As  motion  in 
the  universe  depends  on  the  law  of  gravitation,  so  do  move- 
ments in  the  life  of  humanity  depend  on  the  law  of  unity  of 
life." — And  further ;  "As  the  laws  of  the  fruit  are  develop- 
ments of  the  laws  of  the  flower,  and  the  laws  of  the  flower 
developments  of  the  laws  of  the  bud,  and  the  laws  of  bud, 
flower,  and  fruit,  are  at  the  same  time  one  with  the  laws  of  the 
whole  tree  or  plant;  so  are  the  laws  of  the  development  of 
spiritual  life  higher  outcomes,  or  developments,  of  the  laws  of 
the  solar  and  planetary  system  of  the  universe.  Were  this  not 
the  case  man  could  not  understand  the  latter,  for  he  can  only 
understand  that  which  is  homogeneous  to  him.  And,  according 
to  this,  the  laws  of  the  development  of  life,  in  the  region  of 
the  spiritual,  must  be  apprehended,  demonstrated,  and  built 
upon,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  laws  of  the  formation  of  the 
world.  It  will  be  the  work  of  the  Kindergarten  to  point  out 
the  application  of  these  laws,  as  one  stage  of  progressive  human 
cultivation." 

Frobel's  aim  and  efforts,  may,  I  think  be  summed  up  thus: 
he  was  striving  to  hit  on  a  regular  course  or  method  of  educa- 
tion^ corresponding  to  the  method  of  instruction  long  ago  esta- 
blished by  pedagogic  science. 

As  instruction  aims  before  all  things  at  imparting  knowledge, 
so  education  has  for  its  chief  object  moral  culture,  the  forma- 
tion of  the  character;  and  for  this  end  it  is  above  all  necessary 
that  there   should  be  freedom  of  individual  movement,  room 


-44  ^  New  Method  of  Education. 

for  the  deveiopment  of  personality.  It  may  be  asked  :  "  How 
-can  there  be  one  law  for  all  and  everything  ?  But  does  not  the 
infinite  variety  of  creation  rest  on  the  eternal  bfisis  of  the  unity 
of  the  Creator  ?  Are  not  all  the  heavenly  bodies  alike  subject  to 
the  law  of  gravitation,  and  are  they  thereby  hindered  from  the 
development  of  the  greatest  individuality  ?  It  is  an  undoubted 
fact  that  each  heavenly  body  differs  from  another  both  in  its 
organisms  and  its  productions.  We  see  trees  and  plants  of  the 
most  different  kinds,  thriving  in  the  same  forest,  under  the 
same  conditions  of  soil,  climate,  &c.,  each  individual  growth 
assimilating  to  itself  those  outward  influences  only  which  befit 
its  special  nature.  So  the  personality  of  the  child  will  only 
absorb  into  itself  out  of  that  which  is  presented  to  it,  whatever 
corresponds  to  its  special  wants  and  endowments. 

And  as  it  is  only  in  consequence  of  the  order  of  all  move- 
ment in  space  that  the  free  movement  of  the  heavenly  bodies 
is  possible,  and  that  disturbing  collisions  are  avoided,  so  in  the 
■child's  nursery,  as  in  the  state,  it  is  through  systematic  govern- 
ment alone  that  freedom  is  attained — freedom  of  the  indivi- 
dual through  the  freedom  of  all. 

That  education  should  be  carried  on  in  accordance  with 
nature  is  granted  by  nearly  all  educationalists,  at  any  rate  by 
those  of  modem  times,  as  one  of  its  first  requisites.  And  what 
is  according  to  nature  is  according  to  law. 

Now  it  is  both  according  to  law  and  to  nature,  that  the 
progressive  development — of  the  individual  as  well  as  of  man- 
kind— should  require  at  each  new  stage,  new  conditions,  and 
new  modes  of  assistance.  The  bell-glass  which  protects  the 
germinating  plant  will  not  cover  the  fullgrown  tree,  and  the  man 
-cannot  wear  the  clothes  which  fitted  him  in  his  childhood.  The 
conditions  of  life  change  and  become  higher  in  every  new 
epoch  and  generation,  and  it  must  necessarily  follow  that 
education  should  make  higher  and  more  compreheusi^  e  demands 
on  us,  than  on  the  generations  before  us. 

Amongst  our  Germanic  forefathers,  who  ^ived  in  their 
forests  clothed  in  bear  skins,  the  standard  of  their  children's 
education  was :  for  the  boys,  that  they  should  learn  the  use  of 
the  spear  and  the  bow,  and  to  mount  a  horse  in  the  battle  or 


The  Requisites  of  Education  iii  General.  45 

tlie  chase,  that  they  should  know  the  rights  and  duties  of  their 
tribe,  and  the  customs  of  the  service  of  the  gods  :  for  the  girls, 
that  with  womanly  chastity  they  should  combine  skill  in  cook- 
ing, spinning,  and  housekeeping.  But  this  standard  no  longer 
satisfied  the  succeeding  age  of  chivalry.  And  the  culture  of 
knights  and  their  womankind  does  not  satisfy  the  demands  of 
our  day,  because  the  general  conditions  of  life  have  become 
different. 

And  with  these  changes  of  conditions  the  nature  of  man, 
physical  and  spiritual,  changes  also.  N^ot  of  course  in  its  essen- 
tial features  :  not  in  the  shape  and  conformation  of  his  body ; 
nor  altogether  in  his  impulses,  passions,  and  inclinations,  or  in 
his  processes  of  thinking,  feeling,  and  willing.  Man  has  at  all 
times  one  head,  two  hands,  and  two  feet ;  at  all  times  he 
suffers  and  enjoys,  according  to  the  impressions  produced  on 
him ;  thinks  and  endeavours,  in  human  fashion.  But  are  not 
the  barbarian  and  the  cultivated  human  being  just  as  much 
distinguishable  from  one  another  by  their  outward  appearance 
and  demeanour  as  by  their  inclinations  and  endeavours,  their 
thinking  and  willing  ?  The  physical  development  of  the  work- 
ing-classes is  so  universally  influenced  by  their  mode  of  life 
that  in  them  the  bones  and  muscles  preponderate  ;  whereas  in 
those  who  lead  a  more  intellectual  life  the  nervous  system 
dominates.  The  organization  of  the  head  of  a  thinker  differs 
in  an  important  manner  both  from  that  of  a  savage  and  from 
that  of  a  manual  labourer.  This  difference  is  transmitted  to 
posterity ;  it  is  not  only  physically  that  children  bear  the 
stamp  of  their  parents,  they  also  inherit  from  them  mental 
dispositions.  The  child  of  the  Hottentot  will  be  born  with 
different  dispositions  from  that  of  the  cultivated  European,  and 
the  child  of  the  nineteenth  century  from  one  of  the  barbaric 
age,  because  the  progress  of  the  race  must  also  express  itself 
in  the  individual. 

In  plants  and  animals  we  see  the  influence  of  cultivation  very 
plainly.  The  wild  yellow  root,  or  carrot,  must  for  instance  go 
through  twenty  generations  of  culture  before  it  becomes  eatable  ;^ 
and  after  only  five  generations  of  neglect  it  will  again  revert  to  its 
wild  condition.     The  horse  breeder  knows  that  the  offspring  of  a. 


46  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

noble  race  is  itself  noble,  and  therefore  requires  higher  care 
than  that  of  a  lower  race.  Manifold  experience  teaches  how 
difficult  it  often  is  to  educate  the  child  of  uncouth  parents  and 
ancestors — though  not  necessarily  of  savage  ones — for  a  life  of 
refined  cultivation. 

It  lies  still  before  the  explorers  in  the  science  of  humanity  to 

•  discover  and  demonstrate  more  exactly  the  powerful  influences 
of  mental  culture  on  the  bodily  and  mental  organism,  but  it 

-cannot  be  doubted  that  the  higher  the  culture  of  a  nation  has 
risen,  so  much  the  higher  endowments  will  its  children  bring 
with  them  into  the  world. 

Can  there  then  be  any  doubt  of  the  necessity  for  continual 
reconstruction  of  educational  systems,  as  of  all  other  things, 
and  will  any  persist  iu  maintaining  that,  what  of  old  was  good 
enough  and  sufficient  for  the  education  of  mankind  is  also 
sufficient  now-a-days  ?  To  each  age,  however,  belongs  a  special 
virtue,  and  it  is  precisely  this  which  is  commonly  overlooked  by 
the  reformers  of  the  directly  succeeding  age.  However  much 
we  may  be  justified  in  claiming  for  oar  own  age  great  advance 
in  all  school  and  instructional  arrangements,  there  is  also  no 

-doubt  that  the  preceding  generation  excelled  us  in  many 
respects  with  regard  to  education.  Cultivation  of  character, 
moral  earnestness  and  religion — the  foundation  of  all  education 
— were  prevalent  in  far  higher  measure.  The  care  and  atten- 
tion which  the  ancient  Greeks  bestowed  in  training  the  body 
for  strength,  skill  and  beauty,  are  also  equally  wanting  in  our 
day.  Furthermore  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  ruling  tendency 
of  education  at  the  present  day  has  resulted  in  a  one-sided 
development  of  the  understanding,  and  in  the  stupefying  system 
of  overcramming  for  which  our  rising  generation  is  remarkable. 
Can  any  one,  moreover,  be  so  blind  as  not  to  see  the  black 
shadows  looming  in  the  pathway  of  the  present  generation,  so 
deaf  as  not  to  hear  the  warning-cry  of  manifold  misery  resound- 
ing on  all  sides.  The  blame  of  this  melancholy  state  of  things 
must  undoubtedly  be  partly  attributed  to  faulty  education. 
The  characteristic  features  of  our  age  are  : — Knowledge  with- 

'Out  practice ;  practice  without  the  stamp  of  individuality : 
thought  precociously  developed  before  fancy  and  feeling,  like  to 


The  Requisites  of  Education  in  General,  47 

l3nd  and  blossom,  have  matured  tlie  fruit  ;  insight  without 
power  of  action  ;  the  capacity  for  ruling  matter  degraded  to  the 
service  of  the  material  nature;  no  reverence  for  the  all- 
permeating  spirit  of  God,  no  belief  in  its  eternal  working — 
human  intellect  regarded  as  the  highest  court  of  appeal.  The 
childlike  simplicity  which  surrenders  itself  to  a  higher  and  an 
invisible  power  is  now  almost  unknown,  for  its  source  m  the 
original  unsullied  nature  of  childhood  becomes  early  corrupted, 
and  education  directs  the  mind  only  to  outward  things  :  learn- 
ing has  come  to  be  little  more  than  acceptance  of  what  is 
imparted,  leaving  no  room  for  any  original  material  to  come  to 
the  surface,  and  stifling  the  innate  faculties.  On  all  sides  there 
is  a  crying  out  for  new  rights,  without  any  regard  for  the  idea 
of  duty.     Well  does  a  modem  poet  lament : 

*  **  In  Trauern  blick'  ich  hin  auf  das  Geschlecht  von  heute, 
Wie  es  die  kiinstlich-friihe  Reife  biisst ; 
Friih  scbon  des  Zweifels,  der  Erkenntniss  Beute, 
In  eine  Zukunft  schaut,  die  dunkel  oder  wiist." 

And  because  this  is  the  case  we  see  everywhere  restlessness, 
discontent,  a  piteous  seeking  for  unattained  happiness — a  deep 
vein  of  sadness  runs  through  modern  society,  in  whose  very 
strains  of  joy  tones  of  sorrow  mingle,  and  which,  in  the  midst 
of  wanton  pleasure- seeking,  longs  with  wailings  and  yearnings 
after  the  forfeited  higher  good  which  alone  can  satisfy  the  ideal 
cravings  of  the  soul.  The  world  waits  as  for  a  magic  spell,  for 
a  new  generation,  fashioned  for  a  new  world,  capable  of  the 
deeds  which  that  new  world  demands,  open  to  new  truths — 
who  shall  usher  it  in  ? 

Every  penetrating  reform,  in  whatsoever  field  it  may  be  at- 
tempted, requires  a  new  truth,  a  new  idea  of  genius  for  its 
foundation.  But  such  an  idea  will  seldom  seem  new  in  its  en- 
tirety ;  the  pages  of  history  will  almost  certainly  prove  that  the 
same  idea  has  already  been  expressed,  though  in  a  different 
setting,  by  former  thinkers,  and  that,  constantly  recurring,  it 

*  **  In  sadness  I  gaze  on  mankind  of  to-day. 

Who  of  premature  culture  the  penalty  taste ; 
To  doubt  and  to  learning  a  too-early  prey, 

They  look  forth  on  a  future  of  darkness  or  waste.** 


48  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

lias  gained  a  standing  in  different  epochs.  And  whenever  this 
is  the  case  there  must  be  something  important  in  question 
which  has  not  hitherto  attained  to  full  development.  Often  it 
is  only  a  lucky  hit  that  is  needed  to  convert  into  reality  an  idea 
that  has  long  been  in  preparation. 

Whether  it  has  happened  to  Frobel  by  a  like  lucky  hit  to 
give  a  new  basis  to  education,  experience  and  the  application 
and  carrying  out  of  his  method  must  show.  A  written  expo- 
sition can  do  no  more  than  represent  the  matter  in  its  general 
outlines,  and  thus  awaken  the  desire  to  understand  it  better,  and 
to  test  its  merits  by  application. 

The  most  difficult  of  all  difficult  tasks  is  without  doubt  to- 
give  a  universally  enlightening  definition  to  a  new  truth — 
great  or  small — for  new  truths  always  lie  outside  the  general 
mental  horizon.  Even  Frobel  himself,  therefore,  has  had  little 
success  in  describing  his  educational  theory  in  its  fall  compass, 
and  he  is,  perhaps,  even  more  justified  than  Hegel  and  other 
thinkers  in  complaining  that  he  has  not  been  understood.  Far 
be  it  from  us  to  pretend  here  to  expound  this  idea  in  its  whole 
breadth  and  depth — we  would  only  attempt  by  means  of  the 
following  short  statements  to  open  up  the  way  to  an  under- 
standing of  it. 

The  process  of  spiritual  development  goes  on  also  according  to 
fixed  laws. 

These  laws  correspond  to  the  general  laws  which  reign  through- 
out the  universe,  hut  are  at  the  same  time  higher,  because  suited 
to  a  higher  stage  of  development. 

This  system  of  laws  must  he  ahle  to  he  traced  hack  to  a 
fundamental  law,  however  much  the  latter  may  vary  in  its 
formulce.. 

Frobel  calls  it :  "The  law  of  opposites  and  their  reconcilia- 
tion" or  "  the  law  of  balance." 

There  is  nothing,  animate  or  inanimate,  to  which  this  law 
does  not  apply,  for  everything  consists  of  related  opposites  : 
a  proposition  always  implies  the  counter  proposition — the  ex- 
istence of  Grod  presupposes  that  of  the  world,  that  of  the 
world  presupposes  that  of  God  ;  man,  as  a  being  both  conscious- 
and  unconscious,    links   together   nature — or    unconscioas  ex- 


The  Requisites  of  Education  in  General.  49 

istence,  witli  God — absolute  conscious  existence.  The  inward 
and  outward  aspects  of  things  are  opposites,  which  the  thing 
itself  connects  together.  This  universal  law  manifests  itself 
in  nature  in  the  interchange  of  matter.  Every  organism  pos- 
sesses the  property  of  giving  out  on  the  one  hand  of  its  own 
substance,  and  taking  in  on  the  other  what  has  emanated 
from  other  organisms.  And  these  opposites  of  giving  out  and 
taking  in  are  connected  by  assimilation  and  appropriation — 
a  process  which  varies  in  each  different  organism.  It  is  by 
interchange  of  this  sort  that  the  physical  world  is  kept  in 
continual  balance,  and  connection  of  all  its  parts. 

In  the  intellectual  world  this  law  manifests  itself  in  a 
similar,  or  at  least  an  analogous,  manner.  Mental  develop- 
ment is  also  exchange — a  mental  interchange  of  matter.  The 
soul  takes  in  from  outside,  through  the  senses,  a  stock  of  im- 
pressions and  images,  which  by  an  inward  process  it  converts 
into  thoughts  and  conceptions,  and  gives  out  again  to  the  world 
as  words  and  actions.  Without  intercourse  and  exchange  of 
ideas  with  other  minds,  man  would  never  learn  to  think. 
The  process  of  thinking  is  impossible  without  comparison, 
and  in  order  to  compare  there  must  be  variety  at  hand ;  but 
the  most  distinct  difference  constitutes  only  relative  opposites 
(absolute  opposites  do  not  exist),  which  are  blended  together 
by  means  of  concomitant  similarities.  Therefore,  thought  is 
also  the  connection  of  opposites. 

This  long  recognized  law  which,  whether  in  the  centrifugal 
and  centripetal  forces  which  rule  throughout  the  cosmic  universe, 
or  in  the  inspiration  or  expiration  of  the  lungs,  or  the  ex- 
pansion and  contraction  of  the  sap  of  plants,  &c.,  has  established 
itself  as  the  law  of  all  life,  growth,  and  being — this  law  Frobel 
applies  to  education.  For,  he  argues,  if  this  law  guides  the 
process  of  spiritual  development  in  early  childhood,  that  is  in 
the  period  of  non- deliberate  action,  educators  must  regard  it 
as  the  law  of  nature  for  the  human  mind  if  they  are  to  proceed 
according  to   nature  {Natnr  gemiss*),  and   they  must  apply 

*  The  word  Natur-gemdss  (according  to  nature)  must  never  be  understood  to 
refer  to  nature  in  its  distorted,  corrupted  condition,  in  which  sense  the  word 
natural  is  often  used.*— iV^ote  6^  the  Author. 

£ 


50  A  Neiv  Method  of  Education. 


this  law  in  their  method,  and  above  all  lead  children  to 
apply  it  themselves  in  whatever  they  do.  And  this  from  the 
beginning  of  the  child's  development,  in  the  stage  of  uncon- 
scious existence,  which  is  the  germ  of  all  others.  In  this  way 
the  human  mind  will  be  trained  to  render  to  itself  an  ever 
clearer  and  clearer  account  of  the  laws  of  its  thinking 
and  acting,  while  an  opposite  method  of  education  would 
more  or  less  hinder  the  mind  from  attaining  the  power  of 
clear  thought. 

For  instance,  a  child  directly  it  is  bom  begins  to  take  in 
through  its  senses  impressions  from  outside.  It  perceives  heat 
and  cold,  light  and  darkness;  it  arrives  gradually  at  dis- 
tinguishing between  hard  and  soft,  solid  and  fluid,  near  and 
distant,  &c.  These  are  all  so  many  kinds  of  opposites.  As 
long  as  this  perceptive  faculty  is  but  feebly  developed,  it  will 
not  easily  distinguish  slight  degrees  of  difference,  as,  for 
instance,  a  hard  material  from  one  only  a  little  less  hard,  a  near 
object  from  one  a  very  little  farther,  and  so  forth.  The  more 
marked  the  contrast  in  the  qualities  of  different  objects  (for  it 
is  not  the  things  themselves  that  form  opposites,  but  their 
qualities)  the  more  easily  will  they  be  distinguished  from  one 
another.  Now  to  be  able  to  distinguish  is  the  first  step 
towards  understanding.  Is  it  not,  therefore,  self-evident  that 
this  process  will  be  facilitated  if  the  object*  with  which  the 
child  is  to  occupy  itself  are  presented  to  it  in  the  form  of 
opposites  ?  If,  for  instance,  it  is  to  learn  to  distinguish  between 
the  size  of  things,  let  two  objects,  relatively  great  and  little, 
be  given  to  it,  or  for  distinction  of  colour  two  contrasting 
colours,  and  so  forth. 

In  Frobel's  "  second  gift,"  for  instance,  the  sphere  (a  single 
surface  without  the  distinction  of  edges  and  comers)  and  the 
cube  (many  surfaces,  edges,  and  comers)  form  opposites  which 
the  cylinder  (containing  both  a  round  surface  like  the  sphere, 
and  flat  surfaces  and  edges  like  the  cube)  combines  in  its 
form,  thus  connecting  two  opposites. 

Through  these  shapes,  and  by  means  of  the  sense  of  sight, 
the  child  receives  impressions,  nothing  more.  But  out  of  these 
impressions,  feeling  and  willing  arise,  and  later  on  understand- 


The  Requisites  of  Education  in  General.  51 

ing  and  thinking,  and  it  is  because  all  later  development  depends 
on  them  that  early  impressions  are  so  important. 

As  God  the  Creator  has  everywhere  in  creation  placed 
opposites  side  by  side  in  order  to  work  out  harmony,  so  must 
man  proceed  in  like  fashion  in  all  Ms  works,  if  he  is  to  produce 
harmony.  All  art  is  based  on  the  principle  of  contrasts.  The 
musician  in  the  trichord  connects  together  two  discordant 
tones ;  the  artist  in  his  pictures  has  to  connect  light  and  shade, 
dark  tints  and  bright  ones,  by  means  of  middle  tints,  &c. 

The  child  too,  in  the  Kindergarten,  plaits  and  twists  in  like 
manner ;  lays  one  little  stick  horizontally,  another  perpen- 
dicularly, and  a  third  half  horizont?,lly,  half  perpendicularly,  in 
order  by  means  of  the  slanting  line  to  connect  together  the  two 
others. 

And,  whilst  the  child  is  applying  this  simple  law  in  a 
thousand  different  ways  in  its  occupation,  it  is  being  led  on 
to  creativeness,  which  means,  as  far  as  mankind  is  concerned, 
out  of  given  materials  to  form  new  combinations.  Without 
law  or  rule,  i.e.,  method,  this  is  not  possible.  The  mode  of 
procedure  in  all  work,  whether  industrial  or  artistic,  must  be 
at  bottom  systematic. 

If  the  child  in  all  its  little  productions,  even  those  of  its 
play,  has  persistently  applied  this  principle  of  its  own  mental 
development,  although  at  the  time  conscious  of  nothing  more 
than  that  by  this  simple  means  it  could  produce  the  most 
manifold  shapes,  figures,  &c.,  far  more  will  have  been  done 
for  its  general  development,  than  if  it  had  been  at  once 
prepared  for  all  the  various  branches  of  school  instruction. 
Arrangement,  distribution,  classification,  without  which  no  in- 
struction can  be  carried  on,  and  clear  thought  is  impossible,  will 
have  become  habits  of  his  life,  and  will  bring  to  him  clearness  of 
feeling,  will  and  thought,  the  only  certain  foundations  of  culture. 

As  a  result  of  the  foregoing  we  find  the  first  general  educa- 
tional requisites  to  be  : — 

Assistance  of  spontaneous  development  which  shall  accord 
•with  the  laws  of  nature  ; 

Consideration  for  the  outward  conditions  of  life  of  each  epoch, 
and  for  each  personality ; 

E  2 


52  A  New  Method  of  Education, 

Understanding  and  application  of  the  universal  laws  of 
spiritual  development. 

With  regard  to  the  special  service  rendered  by  Frobel,  let  me 
here  repeat  what  I  have  already  mentioned  before,  that  Frobel 
has  discovered  the  method  and  practical  means  of  disciplining, 
or  of  developing,  body,  soul  and  mind,  will,  feeling  and  under- 
standing according  to  the  systematic  laws  of  nature. 

In  the  practical  application  of  the  positive  and  individual 
portion  of  it,  the  simplicity  and  naturalness  of  Frobel's  method 
stand  out  markedly,  and  at  once  do  away  with  any  idea  of  its 
being  pedantic  or  artificial,  and  in  opposition  to  the  natural 
free  development  of  the  child. 

No  one  will  deny  that  the  smallest  practical  discovery  which 
shall  turn  our  educational  system  in  a  direction  corresponding 
to  the  demands  of  human  nature,  and  of  modem  times,  is  of 
immense  importance,  and  must  contribute  towards  facilitating 
and  expediting  the  great  reformatory  process  of  our  age. 
Though  education  cannot  do  all  that  is  needed  in  this  respect^ 
it  can  do  a  great  deal. 


CHAPTER  V. 

EARLY     CHILDHOOD. 

Motto. — Die  Erneuerung  der  Gesellschaft  hangt  von  deren  sittlicher  Umbil- 
dung  ab,  und  diese  zumeist  von  Verbesserung  des  Erziehungswesen.  Die  Er- 
folge  der  Eiziehung  aber  beruhen  auf  deren  Anfang  in  der  ersten  Kindheit,  und 
diese  ruht  in  den  Handen  der  Frauen. — Br.  M. 

"The  renovation  of  society  depends  on  its  moral  reform,  and  this  again 
chiefly  on  improvement  in  the  nature  of  education.  But  the  results  of  educa- 
tion depend  on  its  first  commencements,  and  these  are  in  the  hands  of  women." 

"  Poor  humanity  ! "  exclaims  Madame  de  Stael  at  the  sight  of 
all  the  manifold  miseries  of  mankind.  With  nmch  more  truth 
might  one  exclaim  :  "  Poor  childhood  ! "  for  in  childhood,  and 
its  perverted  management,  lies  the  source  of  the  greater  part 
of  this  misery.  Adult  mankind  has  weapons  wherewith  to 
repel  the  assaults  of  temptation  and  trouble ;  helpless  child- 
hood ^s  exposed  without  power  of  resistance  to  the  evils  of 
mismanagement  and  neglect,  and  the  consequence  is  that 
human  beings  find  themselves  beginning  the  battle  of  life 
already  maimed  by  thousands  of  wounds.  If  only  the  human 
soul  were  better  guarded  and  fostered  in  its  infancy,  how 
many  fewer  despairing  men  and  women  should  we  see ! 

How  much  has  there  not  been  said  and  written — before  and 
after  Pestalozzi's  "  Book  for  Mothers  " — on  the  importance  of 
first  impressions,  and  yet  what  boundless  neglect  do  we  see  of 
this  first  period  of  the  growth  of  the  human  soul !  If  a  tender 
young  leaf  be  pricked  in  spring-time  with  the  finest  needle  it  will 
show  a  scar  of  continually  increasing  size  till  it  withers  in  the 
autumn ;  how  many  such  needle-pricks  does  not  the  young 
child- soul  receive — and  in  them  the  beginnings  of  many  scars, 
bad  habits,  faults  and  vices  ?  Is  there  a  single  human  being 
who  has  not  to  bear  the  weight — often  a  very  heavy  one — of 


54  -^  iVi?Z£/  Method  of  Education. 

the  consequences  of  some  neglect  in  cliildliood  ?  For  each  one 
of  us  the  roots  of  our  being  are  planted  in  our  childhood,  and  as 
are  the  roots  so  will  be  the  tree.  The  good  and  the  bad  alike, 
if  thej  could  see  down  into  the  lowest  depths  of  their  existence, 
would  be  able  to  trace  back  their  good  deeds  and  their  evil 
ones,  in  their  latest  ramifications,  to  the  seeds  sown  in  infancy. 
It  is  true  that  the  origin,  both  of  physical  and  moral  diseases, 
lies  to  a  great  extent  in  the  innate  dispositions  which  are  the 
heritage  of  parents  and  ancestors,  but  it  depends  upon  early 
care  and  training  whether  these  dispositions  be  developed  or 
suppressed.  Every  single  evil  tendency  can  be  overcome  to  a 
certain  degree. 

Nearly  all  mothers,  and  especially  young  ones,  think  that 
tJieir  children,  so  softly  cradled  in  the  lap  of  love,  are  in  no 
way  to  be  pitied,  that  they  are  protected  from  all  moral  hurt, 
as  from  every  breath  of  cold  air.  And  yet  how  much  harm 
is  done  both  to  their  bodies  and  souls  by  this  very  mother- 
love  if  it  be  not  accompanied  by  right  understanding. 

How  often  do  we  see  a  young  mother,  in  any  class  of 
society,  enter  on  her  educational  office  fully  prepared  for  it, 
even  let  us  say  so  far  as  the  management  of  health  is  concerned  ? 
And  even  if  she  herself  be  thoroughly  fitted  for  her  work,  can^ 
she  prevent  nurses,  and  nurserymaids,  or  whoever  elsQ  may 
assist  her  in  it,  from  committing  a  hundred  errors  ?  Why  is  it 
that  more  than  half  of  mankind  die  during  the  first  ten  years 
of  life,  and  of  these  again  the  greater  number  in  the  first  three 
years  ?  How  few  children  of  all  ages  are  really  blooming  and 
healthy-looking,  especially  in  large  towns.  The  little  pale  faces 
are  a  heavy  reproach  to  parents  and  nurses,  and  little  do  these 
thoughtless  mothers  consider  what  a  terrible  responsibility 
they  have  undertaken  in  view  of  the  well-being  of  humanity. 

Here,  for  instance,  is  a  child  who  can  scarcely  hold  up  its 
great  heavy  head.  When  the  mother  was  at  her  balls,  the 
nurse  used  to  give  it  decoctions  of  milk  and  poppy-heads,  so 
that  whilst  it  was  sleeping  soundly  she  might  keep  a  rendezvous. 
The  water  in  the  little  one's  head  dooms  it  to  an  early  death,  or 
— still  worse — to  idiotcy  for  life  !  There  again  is  one  whose  tot- 
tering, uncertain  gait  tells  of  bandy  legs.     Born  with  a  scrofu- 


Early  Childhood,  55 


Ions  tendency,  it  was  set  too  early  on  the  weak  limbs  which 
were  not  able  to  snppdrt  it.  In  the  thick  waist  and  pale  face 
of  another  child  are  seen  the  results  of  over- feeding,  the  work, 
perhaps,  of  a  good-natured  nursery-maid  who  was  in  the  habit 
of  sharing  her  coffee,  coarse  bread,  potatoes  &c.  with  her  young 
charge.  Inflammation  of  the  chest  brought  on  during  the  first 
months  of  its  life  by  a  draught  when  it  was  being  washed,  have 
developed  in  another  child  the  seeds  of  consumption.  Who 
could  enumerate  all  the  seemingly  trifling  causes  which,  followed 
up  by  later  injurious  influences,  destroy  the  health  of  millions  ? 
And  in  depriving  a  child  of  health  we  deprive  it  also  of  the 
power  to  work  and  to  be  of  any  use  in  the  world.  A  sickly 
child  is  always,  and  indeed  must  be,  a  coddled  and  a  spoilt  one, 
and  grows  up  into  a  man  of  ill-health,  unable  properly  to  main- 
tain his  family,  or  a  suffering  housewife  and  mother  who  can- 
not fulfil  her  duties. 

But  the  first  pernicious  moral  influences  work  almost  more 
terribly. 

The  apparent  passiveness  of  the  young  being  easily  deceives 
its  elders  as  to  its  really  too  ready  susceptibility  to  oatward 
impressions.  The  helpless  infant  is  supposed  to  be  insensible  to 
disorder,  insobriety,  vulgarity  or  ugliness  of  surroundings, 
while  all  the  time  the  impressions  are  being  received  which 
will  determine  the  points  of  view  from  which  the  grown  man 
or  woman  will  look  out  later  on  the  world. 

Each  one  of  us  is  the  offspring  of  his  age  and  his  nation. 
This  means  to  say  :  each  one  bears  the  stamp  of  those  charac- 
teristics of  his  age  and  nation  amongst  which  he  is  born  : 
and  each  one  reflects  the  influences  of  his  immediate  and  more 
distant  surroundings.  In  this  respect  too  each  one  is  the  off- 
spring of  his  family,  of  his  mother,  his  nurse,  his  nursery,  his 
playfellows  &c.,  for  it  is  in  these  that  his  century  and  his  nation 
are  first  represented  to  him.  The  special  stamp  of  individuality 
which  his  body  and  soul  will  bear  in  later  life  will  be  trace- 
able to  these  first  impressions  which  influenced  the  inborn 
dispositions  like  rain  or  sunshine.  The  boy  who  has  been 
reared  in  the  turmoil  of  camp -life  will  bear  a  different  stamp 
of    character   from  one  who   has   grown   up  in   peaceful   quiet 


5  6  A  New  Method  of  EducatioJi, 

amongst  tlie  flowers  of  a  garden.  The  Spartans  and  Athenians 
grew  up  in  the  self-same  country,  under  the  same  sky — but 
how  differently  did  culture  and  morals  colour  their  national 
characters.  Culture  and  morals  are  the  result  of  education — 
of  that  which  is  bestowed  as  well  as  of  that  which  goes  on  of 
itself. 

There  are  certainly  few  errors  which  have  had  such  a  per- 
nicious and  hampering  effect  on  the  development  of  good  in 
humanity  as  the  one  which  treats  children  in  their  earliest 
childhood  merely  as  'physical  beings,  and  regards  the  soul  at  this 
period  as  wholly  insusceptible  and  without  requirements.  The 
soul  which  makes  its  existence  unmistakably  known  later,  must 
have  grown  out  of  a  former,  if  only  a  dormant  state,  in  which 
state  it  must  have  acquired  the  strength  to  manifest  itself  at 
last  openly.  The  soul  then  exists  as  such  already  in  infancy. 
But  in  what  manner  does  it  arrive  at  its  later  development  ?  It 
can  only  be  through  impressions  received  from  outside,  through 
the  influence  of  the  surroundings.  Body  and  soul  at  the  be- 
ginning of  life  may  be  said  to  be  one,  and  bodily  desires  and 
needs  are  seemingly  all  that  express  themselves.  But  the 
foundation  of  these  bodily  desires  is  a  spiritual  one.  The 
organs  must  first  be  strengthened  before  the  soul  can  make  use 
of  them,  but  simultaneously  with  their  development  the  soul 
itself  grows,  and  according  to  the  form  which  these  organs, 
whether  limbs  or  senses,  take  will  be  in  great  measure  the 
spiritual  stamp.  Every  physical  impression  is  at  the  same 
time  a  spiritual  one,  and  all  the  more  lasting  in  proportion  to 
the  youth  and  want  of  power  of  resistance  of  the  being  in 
question.  The  reason  why  children  so  easily  contract  the  mien, 
gestures,  and  habits  of  their  surroundings  is  that  they  have  no 
power  of  resistance — everything  outside  them  is  stronger  than 
themselves,  and  they  have  to  borrow  from  all  outward  in- 
Suences  for  their  own  growth.  Hence  they  are  good,  cheerful 
and  contented,  or  bad,  morose,  and  discontented  just  according 
to  their  surroundings. 

It  is  a  great  mistake,  for  instance,  to  imagine  that  the  vulgar, 
unrefined  manners  of  servants  have  no  effect  on  children  in 
their  first  two  or  three  years,  or  even  in  their  first  months.     I^ 


Early  Childhood,  57 


is  evident  that  a  child  grows  like  its  nurse  from  the  fact  that 
in  a  greater  or  less  degree  it  catches  her  expressions.  The 
foundations  of  the  strongest  passions,  failings,  and  vices  may  be 
laid  when  the  human  being  is  in  its  earliest  stage,  a  mere  infant 
in  arms.  To  have  been  in  infancy  witness  of  improper  be- 
haviour may  have  been  the  beginning  of  lust.  Anger  and  lying 
most  children  learn  from  the  servants  of  the  house — if  not 
from  their  parents ! — Picking  leads  to  stealing.  Many  a 
promising  lad  has  been  led  on  to  deceit  and  theft  from  no  other 
cause  than  that  his  mother  was  wanting  in  order  and  manage- 
ment, and  unable  to  teach  him  either  by  example  or  guidance  ; 
or,  because  she  was  too  weak  to  resist  the  wishes  of  her  child  ; 
he  did  not  learn  to  bear  contradiction  in  childhood,  and  in  after 
years  he  could  not  accustom  himself  to  it. 

Many  a  conscientious  mother  will  doubtless  smile  to  herself 
and  think  :  I  am  not  guilty  of  these  sins.  I  wash  and  dress 
my  child  myself,  or  am  present  while  it  is  being  done  ;  I  have 
good  nurses  to  look  after  it ;  I  feed  it  myself  ;  I  play  and  talk 
with  it  to  develop  its  little  mind ;  I  do  not  let  it  associate  with 
vulgar  people,  and  so  forth.  And  nevertheless  it  was  the  child  of 
a  very  conscientious  and  cultivated  mother — a  little  girl  of  six 
years  old — who  was  assaulted  by  a  soldier,  in  a  public  park,  in 
the  coarsest  and  most  improper  manner,  because  it  hindered  his 
tete-a-tete  with  the  nurse.  And  every  glance  into  the  world  re- 
veals suchlike  hideous  pictures.  They  shew  that  even  the  best 
of  mothers  cannot  be  too  careful,  can  never  be  over  rich  in  pre- 
cautions, and  that  they  all  need  preparation  for  their  calling. 

No  less  sure  in  its  vengeance  is  the  early  neglect  of  the 
intellect.  What  a  multitude  of  "confused  heads"  does  one 
see  in  our  days,  persons  incapable  of  mastering  the  wealth  of 
ideas  of  the  present  day.  One  great  cause  of  this  is  not 
unfrequently  found  in  the  meaningless  playthings  heaped 
together  without  the  slightest  order,  with  which  the  year-old 
child  is  set  to  amuse  itself.  For  inward  clearness  proceeds 
from  outward  order.  As  soon  could  the  eyes  of  a  grown 
person  take  in  at  a  glance  all  the  innumerable  objects  of  an 
industrial  exhibition,  as  the  young  uncultivated  eye  of  an 
infant  distinguish  from   one   another  the  shapeless,  generally 


58  A  New  Method  of  Education, 


broken  objects,  through  which  it  has  to  acquire  its  first  know- 
ledge. Yes,  knowledge !  For  can  the  child  understand  any- 
thing else  before  it  has,  to  a  certain  extent,  learnt  to  know 
form,  colour,  material,  size,  number,  &c. — that  is  to  say  the 
qualities  of  things  ?  But  this  faculty  of  distinguishing  begins 
partly  in  the  earliest  years,  as  the  child  itself  plainly  manifests  ; 
it  would  not  otherwise  crow  with  delight  when  its  hat  and 
cloak  are  produced  to  take  it  out  of  doors,  or  cry  when  the 
sight  of  bath  and  towel  indicate  to  it  preparations  for  washing. 

No  one  would  dream  of  expecting  a  child  of  six  or  seven 
years  old,  because  it  had  been  supplied  with  the  necessary 
materials — paper,  ink,  books,  &c.,  to  learn  to  read  and  write  by 
itself  without  instruction,  and  how  should  an  infant,  up  to  its 
third  year,  learn  without  assistance  to  distinguish  all  the  many 
different  things  which  surround  it,  and  their  qualities,  in  the 
clear  manner  which  is  necessary  to  develop  in  it  clear  percep- 
tion ?  without  the  proper  materials  and  without  help,  it  will 
also  learn  badly  what  it  has  to  know  in  order  to  be  prepared 
for  later  school  instruction. 

It  is  through  the  senses  that  the  young  being  takes  in  the 
first  nourishment  for  the  faintly  glimmering  spark  of  the  soul. 

As  physical  nourishment,  and  especially  that  given  in  early 
years,  is  by  no  means  a  matter  of  indifference  as  regards  the 
growth  of  the  body,  so  it  cannot  be  considered  immaterial 
what  kind  of  spiritual  food  is  afforded  at  this  early  period. 
The  development  of  the  soul  does  not  depend  merely  on  the 
fact  of  the  limbs,  senses,  and  organs,  being  formed — it  depends 
also  on  lioiv  they  are  formed. 

As  eagerly  as  the  babe  at  the  breast  sucks  in  its  mother's 
milk,  so  do  the  senses  (eyes  and  ears  above  all)  suck  in  the 
nourishment  of  the  soul.  Frobel  calls  this  spiritual  sucking  in 
"  ein  Augen"  because  the  eye  is  specially  active  in  the  process. 
In  this  first  period  of  existence,  when  the  child  is  a  sucking- 
babe,  receptiveness  is  the  dominant  faculty.  Just  as  the  bees 
gather  from  thousands  of  flowers  the  stores  with  which  they 
prepare  their  honey,  so  from  the  outer  world  the  child's  soul 
collects  a  store  of  images  which  must  stamp  themselves  upon 
it,  and  grow  into  ideas,  before  the  first  signs  of  spontaneous 


Early  Childhood,  59. 


mental  activity  can  show  themselves  outwardly.  Up  to  this 
point  the  forces  of  the  soul  work  only  inwardly  and  invisibly, 
like  the  seed  of  a  plant  before  it  has  begun  to  sprout.  And  as 
seeds  will  wither,  and  come  to  nothing,  if  they  be  not  watered 
and  tended,  so  will  mental  faculties  if  proper  care  be  denied  them. 

And  in  what  else  can  this  first  fostering  of  the  infant  soul 
consist  than  in  surrounding  it  with  influences  and  images  of 
beauty,  truth,  and  morality  ?  These  are  the  three  objects  of 
human,  and  therefore  also  of  infant,  development. 

The  first  requisite  then  is  to  discover  the  right  method  by 
which  children  should  take  in  knowledge,  before  the  period  in 
which  the  understanding  begins  to  work.  Because  it  has  hither- 
to been  supposed  that  the  feelers  of  the  infant  soul  take  in  all 
the  nourishment  necessary  to  it,  just  as  the  instinct  of  the  young 
animal  leads  it  to  its  proper  food,  no  external  care  has  been  con- 
sidered necessary.  But  no  more  than  a  young  animal  could 
satisfy  its  hunger  in  a  sandy  desert,  can  the  instinct  of  the 
child's  soul  still  its  cravings  where  the  surroundings  offer 
notliing  that  it  can  make  use  of.  But  it  may  be  asked,  do  not 
nature  and  the  outward  world  present  everywhere  forms,  colours, 
sounds,  and  materials,  which  may  serve  as  pictures  for  the  child's 
inner  world  ?  No  doubt  they  do,  but  in  a  scattered  form,  not 
collected  together  and  arranged  in  such  manner  that  they  can 
be  taken  in  by  the  eye  that  has  as  yet  seen  nothing,  the  ear 
that  has  heard  nothing — not  in  the  simple  and  elementary 
form  required  by  the  unpractised  eye.  Can  a  child's  eye  in  its 
earliest  years  take  in  the  beauty  of  a  landscape  with  its  thousand 
different  features  and  gradations,  even  when  it  is  represented  on 
a  small  scale  in  a  picture  ?  Or  can  a  child's  ear  convey  a 
Beethoven  sympathy,  even  as  a  general  impression  only,  to  the 
soul  ?  Impossible  !  For  the  organs  have  not  yet  the  necessary 
strength  for  sustaining  such  complicated  images,  nor  the  soul 
the  capacity  for  grasping  them.  Influences  and  attractions  of 
undue  magnitude  and  power  weaken  the  young  organs,  and 
leave  the  soul  wholly  indifferent,  because  untouched. 

As  nature  has  prepared  for  the  child  its  fit  bodily  food  in  its 
mother's  milk,  so  must  the  mind  of  the  mother  prepare  the 
food    for  her  child's  soul  by  placing  all  the   widely  scattered 


-6o  A  Nezv  Method  of  Education. 


natural  objects  in  sucli  manner  before,  its  senses  that  the  feelers, 
whicb  these  put  out,  may  be  able  to  find  and  take  bold  of  the 
right  materials.  And  further,  by  removing  from  its  surround- 
ings whatever  may  influence  perniciously  the  germinating  soul. 

The  mother  has  to  paint  the  great  pictures  of  nature  and 
reality  in  miniature,  to  separate  single  objects,  to  select  and 
dress  up,  so  as  to  produce  symbols  of  beauty,  truth,  and  morality 
adapted  to  infant  comprehension. 

But  to  determine  these  symbols  for  the  earliest  stage  of 
development  is  an  art,  and  a  difficult  art ;  it  involves  a  know- 
ledge of  human  nature,  of  physiology  and  psychology  :  how 
shall  mothers,  all  mothers,  attain  to  it  ? 

The  maternal  instinct,  maternal  love,  is,  indeed,  a  magic 
power  enabling  the  simplest  women  often  to  work  wonders; 
«;nd  without  this  wonder  of  love  humanity  would  hardly  have 
developed  itself  in  its  infancy.  But  at  the  same  time  every 
mother  is  not  capable  of  finding  out  for  herself  what  her  child's 
soul  requires,  in  order  that  none  of  its  faculties  may  be  ar- 
rested, but  all  brought  to  their  full  development. 

It  is  always  individuals  who  find  out  what  all  need.  For  all 
its  necessities  mankind  has  had  its  discoverers,  its  inventors, 
its  geniuses,  who  have  satisfied  each  want  in  turn,  and  who,  as 
missionaries  of  God,  have  reformed  and  beautified  human  ex- 
istence and  quenched  the  thirst  of  the  human  soul  after  truth. 

Frobel  has  fulfilled  the  mission  of  satisfying  the  need  and 
higher  demands  of  childhood,  arising  out  of  the  new  stage  of 
human  development,  and  of  furnishing  mothers  with  the  symbols 
by  means  of  which,  as  by  the  leading-string  of  truth,  they  may 
lead  young  souls  through  the  first  labyrinth  of  life.  His  mind 
it  was  that  selected  and  arranged  materials,  forms,  colours  and 
sounds  with  elementary  simplicity,  and  in  such  a  manner  that 
they  might  penetrate  the  child's  soul  without  disturbing  the 
stillness  of  its  budding  life,  without  awakening  it  suddenly  or 
artificially,  and  at  the  same  time  without  letting  the  glimmering' 
spark  of  the  soul  be  stifled  in  the  ashes  of  materialism. 
Frobel  found  out  the  certain  rule  by  which  the  mother  may  be 
safely  and  freely  guided  in  her  search  for  the  right  method  of 
tending  the  human  plant  entrusted  to  her. 


Early  Childhood,  6r 


But  what  is  tbis  right  method  ?  Is  everything  to  be  pre- 
pared for  the  germinating  infant  mind,  everything  weighed 
out,  all  exertion  spared  it,  and  is  it  simply  to  rest  in  its  passivity, 
as  on  its  mother's  breast  ?  Yes,  at  the  beginning  of  its  ex- 
istence the  world  of  its  surroundings  must  be  adapted,  ar- 
ranged and  modelled  according  to  its  needs,  as  its  cradle  and 
clothing  are  prepared  for  its  body,  because  the  sucking  babe 
must  first  suck,  i.e.,  take  in,  and  can  as  yet  procure  nothing 
for  itself.  But  let  only  a  few  months  go  by,  and  it  will  be- 
gin to  stretch  out  its  hands  eagerly  as  if  to  lay  claim  to  it& 
share  of  the  world.  Frobel  says  :  that  the  first  grasping  of 
childish  hands  is  a  sign  of  mental  awakening.  With  the- 
hands  man  begins  to  take  possession  of  the  material  good 
things  of  the  world,  till  the  mind  in  its  fashion  begins  alsa 
to  grasp.  It  is  only  by  appropriation  that  a  human  being 
can  place  himself  in  relation  or  connect  himself  with 
the  outward  world,  but  appropriation  must  be  followed  by 
action,  as  duties  come  with  rights.  The  spontaneous  action 
of  the  child,  which  is  the  beginning  of  future  labours,  begins- 
already  in  the  earliest  months.  It  shows  itself  in  the  first 
grasping  with  the  hands ;  but  instead  of  encouraging  and  as- 
sisting this  practice,  whereby  a  sense  of  space  and  distance 
is  developed,  people  too  often  hinder  it  by  handing  to  the 
child  or  taking  away  from  it  the  object  which  it  grasped 
at  with  its  little  hands  for  the  purpose  of  studying  it  by 
touch. 

Constant  stimulus  to  spontaneous  action  is  the  first  principle 
of  Frobel's  educational  method.  He  says  :  "  The  beginning  of 
a  child's  activity  is  the  conversion  of  the  outward  into 
the  inward ;  " — i.e.,  taking  in  outward  things  as  impressions — 
"  In  order  afterwards  to  make  the  inward  again  outward ;  " — 
or  in  other  words,  to  work  up  into  ideas  and  thoughts,  the 
impressions  taken  in,  and  give  them  out  again  in  words  and 
actions.  In  his  "  Sunday  papers  "  he  says :  "  Taking  in  and 
living  out  is  a  fundamental  necessity  of  child-nature,  as 
indeed  of  humanity  in  general.  The  earthly  destination  of 
mankind  is,  by  careful  assimilation  of  the  outer  world,  by 
the  forming    of   his    nature,  by  the    expression    of   his    inner 


62  A  New  Method  of  Education, 


life  outside  himself,  and  by  careful  comparison  of  this  inner 
life  with  outward  life,  to  attain  to  the  knowledge  of  their 
oneness,  to  the  knowledge  of  what  life  consists  in,  and  to  a 
faithful  living  up  to  its  demands." 

But  suppose  the  right  kind  of  surrounding  to  have  been 
prepared  for  a  child,  so  that  it  is  able  to  take  in  images  of 
beauty,  truth,  and  morality,  how  is  it  to  "  live  out "  that  which 
it  has  taken  in  ?  How  is  it  to  become  spontaneously  active  ? 
In  what  form  is  it  to  express  its  individual  nature  ?  It  must 
live  out  the  self,  the  inner  being,  which  nature  has  bestowed  on 
it^  in  that  manner,  in  that  form,  which  its  childish  instinct  pre- 
scribes to  it,  viz.,  in  play. 

Play  is  free  activity,  engendered  by  happiness  and  well-being. 
To  develop  itself  is  happiness  and  well-being  to  a  child,  so  long 
as  the  process  is  in  accordance  with  nature ;  in  order  that  it 
may  develop  itself  the  child  plays  in  happy  unconsciousness — 
for  it  knows  nothing  of  the  object  of  its  activity.  "  Play  is 
the  first  poetry  of  the  child,"  says  J.  Paul,  but  play  means  also 
its  first  deeds,  which  are  the  expression  of  human  nature,  of 
human  life.  It  is  the  preparatory  exercise  for  this  life.  The 
child  begins  its  existence,  after  the  first  months  of  mere  talcing 
in,  by  handling,  producing  and  transforming :  for  to  transform 
the  world  is  the  business  of  humanity. 

When  a  child  of  but  a  few  months  old  applies  its  whole 
strength  to  thumping  on  the  table  with  some  object  or  other,  or 
to  flinging  it  over  and  over  again  on  the  ground,  or  from  its 
mother's  arms  opens  and  shuts  the  door,  &c.,  it  is  exercising  its 
young  forces,  and  it  derives  pleasure  from  so  doing — it  may  be 
said  to  be  playing — though  as  yet  without  conscious  end  and 
without  manifestation  of  its  individual  nature.  When  at  a 
somewhat  later  age,  while  playing  with  its  doll  it  imitates  all 
that  happens  to  itself,  the  way  in  which  it  is  washed,  or  dressed, 
&c.,  or  whatever  it  sees  going  on  in  the  kitchen,  in  the  workshop, 
in  the  garden,  in  the  street,  the  instinct  of  imitation  is  develop- 
ing its  ideas,  and  stimulating  it  to  ever  new  dramatic  represen- 
tations from  the  life  of  grown  people,  and  the  young  mind  is 
now  exercising  its  forces.  But  this  activity  is  still  so  to  say 
universal,  in  so   far   as   the   child    only   gives   back   universal 


Early  Childhood.  63 


impressions  made  on  it,  without  its  individual  stamps  standing 
out  distinctly — though  at  the  same  time  difference  of  disposition 
may  already  distinguish  the  boy  from  the  girl,  the  sanguine 
temperament  from  the  phlegmatic,  and  various  features  show 
individuality  of  character.  It  is  only  specially-gifted  children 
and  artistic  or  scientific  geniuses  of  the  future  whose  individual 
endowments  are  often  strongly  pronounced  at  the  earliest  age, 
«ven  though  all  musical  composers  do  not,  like  the  little  Mozart, 
compose  sonatas  at  six  years  old. 

Doing  and  handling  alone  are  not  enough  to  cause  the  indi- 
viduality of  a  child,  the  kernel  of  its  personality,  the  Divine 
thought  in  it  to  blossom  forth — for  this,  actual  production  and 
creation  are  necessary.  It  is  in  the  works  of  its  hands  that 
ihe  signs  must  be  sought  which  will  point  to  the  special 
vocation  it  is  destined  for. 

The  degree  of  practical  skill  of  which  little  child-hands  are 
■capable,  is  shown  by  many  an  industry  in  which  child  labour 
is  'jm.'Jused,  for  it  is  employed  like  a  machine,  always  in  one 
direction  only.  But  the  child's  mind  can  only  produce  in  the 
joyousness  of  play,  with  the  stimulus  of  a  desired  end  to  be 
attained,  of  an  awakened  sense  of  the  beautiful  to  be  satisfied, 
or  contentment  of  one  kind  or  another,  to  be  reached  as  the 
result  of  its  endeavours.  With  such  an  aim  the  healthy  child 
will  spare  itself  no  trouble,  no  exertion — indeed,  without  any 
definite  aim  it  delights  in  exhausting  itself  with  activity ;  its 
nature  impels  it  to  do  so,  for  it  is  created  for  labour.  But  it 
must  also  become  artist,  i.e.,  it  must  originate  within  the  limits 
of  its  own  small  powers,  if  the  flower  of  its  individuality  is  to 
unfold.  For  this  purpose  the  ordinary,  imitative,  aimless  play 
is  not  sufficient ;  its  efforts  require  the  guiding  and  determining 
of  suitable  materials. 

How  eagerly  do  children  long  and  beg  for  the  participation  of 
their  elders  in  their  play — for  their  guidance  and  direction ; 
with  what  zeal  do  they  collect  all  available  materials  to  enable 
them  to  carry  out  their  little  ideas.  But  grown-up  people, 
when  they  do  join  in  the  amusements  of  children,  understand 
but  imperfectly  how  to  be  wise  leaders,  and  the  materials  at 
liand  are  seldom  suitable.     Chance-found  material  is  generally 


64  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

too  rough  to  be  worked  upon ;  and  finislied  objects  leave  nothings 
over  to  be  done.  It  has  often  been  remarked  that  childish 
fancy  prefers  an  unfinished  article  to  a  finished  one,  a  bit  of 
wood  to  a  doll,  because  it  can  do  something  more  to  it ;  and  it 
is  sufficiently  evident  that  the  continually  increasing  wealth  and 
perfection  of  toys  only  serve  to  produce  dulness  in  children,  or 
dsstructiveness  as  the  only  form  of  activity  left  to  them,  or,  at 
any  rate,  satiety,  weariness,  and  a  fatal  love  of  distraction  which 
causes  a  constant  craving  for  change,  while,  amid  all  this  super- 
fluity of  diversion,  the  inactivity  of  the  powers  makes  any  real 
satisfaction  an  impossibility. 

Frobel,  when  a  little  boy,  tried  once  very  hard  with  the 
material  that  he  had  collected — stones,  boards,  and  splints — to 
build  a  model  of  the  Gothic  church  of  his  village,  but,  after  long 
fruitless  struggles,  he  threw  up  his  work  in  childish  rage.  This 
incident,  however,  gave  birth  to  the  later  thought  that  children 
have  need  of  prepared  materials  and  guidance,  even  for  the 
exercises  they  carry  on  in  play,  in  order  that  the  real  meaning 
and  object  of  play  may  be  fulfilled.  His  own  childish  games  in 
his  father's  garden  were  the  foundation  o£  his  "  means  of  employ- 
ment during  the  first  childhood,"  which  are  applied  in  his 
Kindergarten. 

The  purpose  of  the  playthings,  which  he  has  devised,  is  to 
facilitate  from  the  very  first  months  the  perception  of  outward 
objects  ;  by  the  simplicity,  the  method,  and  above  all,  the  fitness 
of  the  things  set  before  the  child,  to  enable  it  the  more  easily  to 
take  in  form,  size,  number,  colour,  sound,  &c.,  and  by  their 
definiteness,  serial  order,  and  connection,  to  produce  clear  and 
distinct  impressions  which  shall  correspond  to  the  first  budding 
powers  of  comprehension.  They  serve,  also,  to  assist  the 
development  of  the  senses  and  organs  in  the  easiest  manner, 
viz.,  through  the  own  action  of  the  child,  so  that  it  may  be 
rendered  capable  of  living  out  its  inner  self  in  accordance  with 
its  individual  endowments,  and  of  recognizing  itself  in  its 
works,  as  works  of  art  reflect  the  soul  of  the  artist. 

Through  Frobel  the  childish  instinct  of  play  has  been  con- 
verted into  conscious  action.  He  perceived  the  end  which 
nature  intended    to  reach    by  its  means ;    saw  the  analogy 


Early  Childhood.  65 


between  tlie  process  of  development  in  early  childliood  and  the 
evolutionary  development  of  liiimanity,  and  was  able,  by  a 
penetrating  glance  at  the  relations  of  these  two  processes  to  one 
another,  to  discover  the  true  method  for  the  satisfaction  of  the 
impulse  of  culture  which  is  innate  in  man,  and  through  which 
he  has  been  led  to  the  development  of  himself  and  his  world. 

It  has  been  well  said  :  "  Genius  brings  with  it  its  own  path, 
the  gifted  nature  reaches  its  goal."  Providence,  it  is  true, 
allows  those  chosen  by  it  for  great  tasks  to  select  for  them- 
selves the  means  of  their  fulfilment ;  but  who  can  say  how  much 
labour,  how  many  f  ruitless  struggles,  how  many  tears  of  despair 
might  have  been  saved  them  ?  Or  how  much  gi'eater  their 
services,  how  much  wider  their  hearts  might  have  been?  Many, 
no  doubt,  would  say  that  it  is  just  these  tears,  and  struggles, 
and  agonies  of  despair,  which  develop  genius  or  character ; — 
and  certainly  a  man  has  always  to  thank  his  own  endeavours 
which  developed  his  faculties,  for  his  greatness.  But  the  point 
in  question  is  to  direct  these  exertions  to  the  right  end  and 
enable  them  to  reach  it,  and,  above  all,  to  recognize  endowments 
betimes.  If  a  person  gifted  with  a  fine  voice  does  not  sing,  he 
or  she  cannot  become  a  singer ;  and  if  Thorwaldsen  and  Hum- 
boldt, like  Casper  Hauser,  had  been  confined  for  fifteen  years  in 
a  dark  cellar  where  they  could  see  and  hear  and  do  nothing, 
their  genius  would  never  have  unfolded  itself.  But  who  could 
count  the  fast-bound  gifts  and  powers  which  fall  like  unripe 
fruit  from  the  tree  of  humanity,  because  no  school  was  at  hand 
for  their  development,  because  the  soul  was  not  loosed  from  its 
darkness?  The  number  of  geniuses  will  not  be  less  because 
their  crowns  of  thorns  are  exchanged  for  crowns  of  roses,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  will  multiply  beyond  all  power  of  calculation  when 
the  faculties  have  room  given  them  for  joyous  work  and  effort,  and 
when,  through  wise  guidance,  the  vocation  of  the  individual  is 
made  plain  to  him  when  still  a  child,  and  the  shortest  way 
to  its  fulfilment  pointed  out. 

All  Sysiphus  labour  should  be  spared,  especially  in  childhood, 
which  should  be,  before  all  things,  a  time  of  happiness ;  and  the 
way  to  make  it  so  is  by  encouraging  natural  activity,  by  setting 
free  the  imprisoned  forces,  and  by  enabling  children  to  live  in 


66  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

accordance  with  their  needs,  to  collect  experiences,  and  to  learn 
for  themselves  without  school  discipline.  The  creative  spirit 
must  be  allowed  to  work  in  them,  that  thus  the  rising  genera- 
tion may  be  saved  from  the  demon  of  excitement- seeking,  which 
is  ruining  morality  in  our  days.  Action,  in  the  form  of  play, 
must  supply  the  elements  of  all  knowledge  and  practice,  so 
that  unity  and  connection  may  pervade  the  whole  culture. 
The  child  should  come  to  school  ready  equipped  with  all  the 
fundamental  conditions  necessary  for  true  learning ;  and 
these  are  :  to  be  able  to  see  with  one's  own  eyes ;  to  hear  with 
one's  own  ears  ;  to  possess  the  power  of  observing  and  attending ; 
to  have  a  thirst  for  knowledge ;  to  be  able  rightly  to  perceive  and 
distinguish  the  different  surrounding  objects,  and  to  be  able, 
through  construction  in  childish  fashion,  to  give  outward  ex- 
pression to  the  inward  self. 

Morality  and  virtue  must  be  learnt  through  doing  and 
practising  :  words  alone  will  never  teach  them.  It  is  only  by 
action  that  the  will  is  strengthened  and  the  capacity  for  great 
and  good  deeds  ripened.  And,  for  this  purpose,  children  will 
seldom  find  so  fit  a  field  as  the  Kindergarten  presents  to  them. 

No  age  ever  called  for  such  a  throng  of  action  as  does  ours  ! 
The  industrial  works  of  our  day  are  gigantic  as  the  pyramids  of 
Egypt ;  but,  instead  of  centuries,  like  the  latter,  they  require 
only  days  for  their  completion,  and  the  outward  world  is  being 
reconstructed  with  astounding  rapidity. 

But  all  the  slower,  alas,  does  the  moral  reconstruction  go 
forward  !  What  force  shall  be  mighty  enough  to  rival,  in  this 
field,  the  wonders  of  industry  ?  Is  there  a  higher  force  than 
love,  which,  in  its  divine  nature,  created  the  world  ?  And 
what  love  is  more  powerful  than  that  of  the  mother  ?  The 
Divine  spark  of  love  in  the  human  breast  never  bums  with  a 
purer  and  a  holier  fire  than  on  the  sacrificial  altar  of  the  mother's 
heart,  which  the  ashes  of  a  ruined  world  would  not  suffice  to 
quench.  Shall  not  this  force,  then,  be  mighty  enough  to  con- 
tribute to  the  purifying  and  sanctifying  of  human  society  in 
an  age  when  a  new  phoenix  is  striving  to  rise  from  the  ashes  of 
centuries  ? 

It  is  not  enough,  that  saving  ideas  should  be  carried  about 


Early  Childhood.  6/ 


in  tlie  world ;  tliere  must  also  be  the  necessary  devotion,  the 
good-will,  the  endurance,  the  power  of  self-sacrifice,  to  carry 
them  out.  The  'male  genius  of  humanity  begets  the  ideas  of 
which  each  century  has  need ;  the  female  genius  has  to  work 
them  out. 

The  genius  of  mankind  is  two-sexed,  but  a  long  period  has 
gone  by  during  which  the  world  has  received  its  stamp  from 
the  male  half  only,  and  the  result  is  that  many  fields  are  bar- 
ren, large  tracts  parched  and  arid.  The  dews  of  emotion  and 
love  can  alone  refructify  them.  A  cry  is  going  up  on  all  sides 
calling  to  the  slumbering  second  genius  of  humanity  to  awake, 
and  appealing  to  the  "  love  force  "  of  woman  for  redeeming 
works.  The  cry  of  the  children  calls  to  the  hearts  of  mothers 
that  here  is  the  material  out  of  which  they  may  build  up  a  new 
generation  which  shall  impart  the  spirit  of  moral  greatness  and 
dignity  to  the  beautified  outward  world,  so  that  the  body  may 
not  remain  without  a  soul.  A  new  key  has  been  found  to  un- 
lock the  nature  of  the  child,  a  new  alphabet  is  ready  wherewith 
to  decipher  its  secrets — will  not  the  mothers  of  our  day  snatch 
gladly  at  this  key,  and  eagerly  study  this  new  book  for  mothers  ? 
And  will  not  the  young  Tyomen  too,  who  are  not  yet  mothers, 
joyfully  undertake  the  sacred  office  of  educators  of  childhood  to 
which  Frobel  calls  them  ? 


v2 


68  A  Nezv  Method  of  Education. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

frobel's  method,  and  what  is  new  in  it. 

We  have  attempted  so  far  to  draw  out  more  fully  and  to 
make  universally  comprehensible  the  following  general  ideas  of 
Frobel's. 

1.  The  destiny  of  a  child  is,  to  be  the  child  of  nature,  the 
child  of  humanity,  and  the  child  of  God. 

Or  :  the  human  being  as  a  product  of  the  earth  belongs  to 
the  material  physical  w^orld,  and  is  of  necessity  subject  to  the 
law^s  of  this  world  ;  as  a  personality  he  comes  out  of  the  range  of 
tliese  laws  and  stands  as  man  on  the  higher  ground  of  self- 
knowledge  and  freedom ;  and  lastly,  through  right  development 
and  a  life  in  harmony  with  it,  he  attains  to  the  still  higher 
spiritual  community  of  universal  humanity  in  which  the  divine 
spark  of  the  human  soul  begins  to  shine,  and  he  enters  into  re- 
lation with  the  world  outside  the  limits  of  earth,  and  with  the 
source  of  all  things. 

2.  In  the  utterances  of  the  child,  which  are  the  mirror  of 
its  nature,  we  recognize  on  a  small  scale  the  development  of 
humanity  in  its  infancy. 

Or  in  other  words,  the  individual  will  always  reflect  the 
characteristics  of  the  race,  as  may  be  proved  by  the  analogy  be- 
tween the  historical  epochs  in  the  world's  progress,  and  the 
universal  stages  in  the  life  of  childhood. 

3.  The  education  of  children  requires  :  consideration  of  human 
nature  in  general,  which  changes  with  the  progressive  develop- 
ment of  the  race;  consideration  of  the  age  in  which  they 
are  living ;  of  the  personality  of  each  individual  character ; 
and   lastly  of   the  law  of  development^  which  as  regards  the 


Probers  Methody  and  what  is  New  in  It.  69 


spiritual  nature  is  "  a  higher  outcome  of  the  general  law  of 
development  of  the  universe." 

4.  The  first  period  of  childhood — as  being  the  most  important 
with  regard  to  human  development  in  general — is  not  yet  suffi- 
ciently considered  and  cared  for  ;  the  first  needs  of  the  soul  are 
almost  entirely  disregarded  ;  Frobel  offers  the  means  by  which 
the  female  sex  may  be  more  adequately  prepared  for  its  vo- 
cation as  the  first  educators  of  childhood. 

These  fundamental  ideas  must  be  accepted  before  Frobel's 
method  and  means  of  education  can  be  understood  and  appre- 
ciated in  their  full  significance.  In  their  general  acceptation 
these  ideas  have  undoubtedly  been  more  or  less  expressed  in 
different  ages  and  at  different  times,  and  every  thoughtful 
educationalist  has  more  or  less  recognized  them.  But  in  the 
relation  which  Frobel  gives  them,  and  the  application  dis- 
covered for  them  by  him,  they  are  new. 

An  idea  is  never  realized  by  one  human  mind,  or  even  by  one 
generation ;  it  is  part  of  the  scheme  of  the  great  Ruler  who 
sends  these  ideas  to  the  earth,  these  sparks  from  the  eternal 
altar  of  truth,  that  they  should  go  on  ripening  for  centuries 
before  they  are  allowed  to  bear  fruit.  Every  new  truth,  which 
has  become  a  reality,  has  had  behind  it  a  host  of  zealous  spirits, 
who  have  been  compelled  to  fight  for  it  and  force  open  a  way, 
may  be  at  the  peril  of  their  lives,  before  it  could  make  its 
entry  into  the  region  of  reality.  And  often  it  happens  that 
the  man  or  woman  in  whose  mind  the  light  of  a  new  truth 
first  kindled  remains  for  ever  unknown. 

Before  a  new  idea  assumes  an  established  form  it  must  have 
been  thought  out  again  and  again  by  the  various  successors  of 
its  first  pioneer,  each  one  of  whom  w  ill  have  something  to  con- 
tribute to  what  has  been  already  conceded — not  merely  an 
amendment  here  or  there,  but  a  new  thought  which  will  alter,  or 
give  a  fresh  basis  to  the  entire  scheme.  And  this  is  essentially 
the  work  of  genius — the  fire  in  w^hich  every  spark  of  truth  is 
kindled.  If  a  new  thought  is  to  be  fused  into  any  scheme  that 
has  been  already  ripening  for  some  time,  the  whole  ground 
which  has  been  gone  over  and  gained  from  the  birth  of  the 
ficheme  down  to  its  present  stage  must  be  rontomplated  anew 


70  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

from  an  independent  stand-point.  Every  man  of  science  wlia 
contributes  something  new  to  his  special  branch  must  be  well 
up  in  all  that  has  been  done  before  his  time  ;  he  must  reckon 
up  again  the  whole  sum  of  results  already  gained  if  he  has  re- 
ceived a  fresh  amount  to  be  added  to  it.  And  what  but  the 
intuitive  power  of  genius  would  be  equal  to  such  a  task  ? 

In  the  field  of  education  the  same  truth  holds  good  :  Frobel's 
idea  of  "  human  education  conducted  according  to  an  infallible 
method  "  had  been  groped  after,  worked  at,  nourished  and  fos- 
tered for  centuries  by  minds  kindred  to  his  own,  until  at  last 
it  was  able  to  be  formulated  and  expressed  with  some  sort  of 
clearness. 

The  pith  of  the  educational  theory  in  question  may  be  sum- 
med up  in  few  words,  as  follows : — there  must  be  a  method- 
ical and  systematic  plan,  according  to  which  every  healthily 
born  human  being  (relatively  speaking !)  can  be  in  such  man- 
ner surrounded  and  guided  that  his  inborn  faculties  and  powers 
may  be  sure  of  complete  development. 

Only  a  plan  of  this  sort  is  worthy  the  name  of  an  educational 
method. 

Before  the  theory  in  question,  together  with  v/hat  Frobel 
has  done  towards  carrying  it  out,  can  be  clearly  expounded,  it 
is  necessary  to  come  to  an  understanding  as  to  what  is  meant 
by  method,  and  to  distinguish  rightly  between  an  educational 
and  instructional  method. 

There  are  many  people  who  while  allowing  that  instruction 
should  be  imparted  methodically  to  children  at  quite  an  early 
age,  nevertheless  think  it  foolish  and  unpractical  to  dream  of 
educating  a  child  according  to  a  method  from  the  beginning  of 
its  existence. 

They  think  that  free  spontaneous  development,  the  growth  of 
individuality,  would  be  hindered  thereby. 

The  idea  of  method  in  its  general  signification  may  be  defined 
as  follows :  a  systematic  plan,  that  is  to  say  a  plan  which  could 
not  be  any  other  than  what  it  is,  and  such  as  after  repeated  ex- 
periences it  has  become  established,  for  reaching  any  given  end 
in  the  easiest  and  best  possible  way.  Or  else  :  the  following  of 
definite  rules  to  attain  an  object  in  view. 


FrobeVs  Method^  and  what  is  New  in  It,  71 

Whatever  form  the  definition  may  take  the  pith  of  it  will 
always  be  the  same.* 

In  all  and  everything  that  has  to  be  accomplished  there  must 
be  one  way  which  leads  more  directly  than  any  other  to  the 
wished-for  goal.  When  once  this  most  direct  way  to  any  given 
end  has  been  established,  each  one  has  but  to  follow  it :  that  is 
to  say,  to  apply  certain  fixed  rules  which  have  resulted  from 
experience ;  and  it  is  in  this  application  of  fixed  rules  that 
method  consists.  This  is  true  of  all  work  without  exception — 
the  least  as  well  as  the  greatest. 

No  art,  not  even  that  of  cooking,  can  be  carried  on  without 
such  a  system  of  rules.  Suppose  a  cook,  for  instance,  were  to 
put  together  the  ingredients  of  her  dough  in  an  arbitrary  manner, 
without  regard  to  weight,  and  to  bake  them  without  first  mixing 
and  stirring  them,  the  bread  would  not  turn  out  well.  And 
what  applies  to  industrial  processes  applies  equally  to  artistic 
and  mental  work.  Poetry  cannot  dispense  with  metre  and  the 
laws  of  versification  ;  musical  compositions  must  be  based  on  the 
laws  of  harmony. 

Even  when  people  write  poetry  without  any  knowledge  of 
metrical  rules,  they  nevertheless  unconsciously  apply  these  rules; 
their  compositions  could  not  be  called  poetry  if  a  definite  plan  of 
syllables  did  not  produce  rhythm.  In  the  same  way,  people 
gifted  with  musical  talent  do  not  need  to  have  learnt  the  laws  of 
harmony,  in  order  to  apply  them  in  musical  improvising.     But 

*  It  is  impossible  to  demonstrate  what  is  new  in  Frobel's  system  except  in 
connection  with  what  is  already  known,  for  what  is  special  in  any  idea  can  only 
be  seen  in  relation  to  what  is  general  in  it.  We  must  first,  therefore,  clearly 
establish  the  general  side  of  this  educational  theory,  that  in  which  Frobel's 
ideas,  too,  are  rooted,  in  order  that  we  may  be  at  one  with  our  readers  concern- 
ing the  premises. 

The  public  has,  hitherto,  chiefly  concerned  itself  with  the  outward  aspect  of 
the  Kindergarten  system,  both  as  regards  theory  and  practice,  has  illustrated 
the  substance  of  the  method,  while  the  kernel,  the  reason  of  it,  has  chiefly 
remained  in  the  back-ground  and  has  not  been  universally  accessible.  So  long  as 
this  is  the  case  the  interest  of  the  thinking  public,  and  especially  of  those  who 
are  strangers  to  the  science  of  education,  will  be  little  awakened  in  the  system 
and  the  danger  of  its  being  reduced  to  a  mechanical  process  will  continually 
increase.  Not  till  the  principles  on  which  the  system  is  grounded  are  fully 
understood  will  this  danger  be  removed  and  the  system  universally  taken  up. 


72  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

witliout  that  unconscious  application,  only  discordance  would 
be  the  result,  and  never  a  complete  tune. 

This  unconscious  and  intuitive  application  of  every  kind  of 
laws  proves  that  the  foundation  of  all  systems  lies  in  human 
nature  itself — is  an  innate  faculty.  If  this  were  not  the  case  no 
amount  of  experience  would  enable  man  to  comprehend  the  laws 
outside  himself,  either  in  nature  or  in  human  work. 

The  imparting  of  knowledge,  according  to  some  such  a  plan  of 
laws,  is  called  methodical  instruction.  Nothing  can  be  called 
real  instruction  which  does  not  proceed  according  to  a  method, 
and  no  one  will  have  a  word  to  say  against  instruction  being 
methodical.  Every  one  knows  that  a  language  cannot  be 
thoroughly  learnt  without  a  grammar,  which  sets  before  the 
pupil  the  rules  or  laws  of  the  language. 

Instruction,  or  teaching,  as  such,  has  to  do  with  the  powers  of 
apprehension,  the  understanding  of  the  pupil,  and,  in  addition 
to  the  imparting  of  positive  knowledge,  aims  at  exercising  and 
developing  the  power  of  thought.  The  laws  of  instructional 
methods  must  therefore  correspond  to  the  laws  of  human 
thought,  or  the  subject  taught  could  never  be  grasped  by  the 
pupil. 

The  next  question,  therefore,  is,  in  what  do  these  laws  of 
human  thought  consist  ? 

Let  us  be  permitted  to  give  here  a  few  rapid  indications  which 
are  necessary  to  the  clear  exposition  of  our  subject.  A  psycho- 
logical treatment  of  it  would  be  out  of  place.  These  indications, 
moreover,  will  not  be  given  in  accordance  with  the  numerous 
definitions  of  philosophical  authorities,  but  only  in  the  sense  in 
which  inward  and  outward  observation  brings  them  to  the 
notice  of  every  sound  human  intellect,  and  in  which  they  lie  at 
the  bottom  of  Frobel's  views. 

What,  then,  is  the  process  of  the  human  mind  in  reflection  ? 
The  systematic  process,  as  it  is  the  same  for  all  minds. 

Every  thought  must  relate  to  something  that  we  know, 
and  first  of  all  to  visible  objects;  we  must  have  an  object 
of  thought.  This  object  of  thought  must  not  only  be  taken 
in  by  the  senses  as  a  whole,  so  that  a  general  idea  of  it  is 
gained,  as  of  a  foreign  plant  that  has  been  seen  superficially 


Probers  Method y  and  what  is  New  in  It.  73 

in  a  picture,  witliout  the  details  of  leaves,  blossoms, 
stamens,  &c.  It  must  be  observed  and  studied  in  all  its  parts 
and  details.  If  we  want  to  acquire  a  thorough  knowledge  of  a 
foreign  plant  we  must  compare  all  its  properties  with  those  of 
plants  known  to  us.  When  the  properties  or  qualities  of 
different  objects  are  all  exactly  the  same  we  cannot  compare 
them ;  if  there  is  to  be  comparison,  there  must  be  a  certain 
amount  of  difference — but  difference,  side-by-side  with  similarity. 
The  qualities  which  are  similar  will  be  the  universal  ones,  which 
everything  possesses,  as  form,  size,  colour,  material,  &c.,  for 
there  is  nothing  that  does  not  possess  these  qualities.  The 
different,  or  contrasting  qualities,  will  consist  in  variations  of 
the  universal  ones  of  form,  size,  &c.,  as,  for  instance,  round  and 
square,  great  and  little,  hard  and  soft,  &c.  Such  differences  in 
properties  that  have  a  general  resemblance  are  called  opposites. 

All  such  opposites,  however,  are  at  the  same  time  connected 
and  bound  together.  The  greatest  size  that  we  can  imagine  to 
ourselves  is  connected  with  the  smallest  by  all  the  different 
sizes  that  lie  between ;  the  darkest  colour  with  the  lightest  by 
all  the  intermediate  shades ;  from  an  angular  shape  one  can 
gradually  go  over  to  a  round  one  through  a  series  of  modifica- 
tions of  form ;  and  from  hard  to  soft  through  all  the  different 
gradations.  Not  that  one  and  the  same  object  can  ever  be  both 
hard  or  soft,  dark  or  light,  great  or  little,  but  the  collective 
qualities  of  all  existing  objects  go  over  from  their  superlative 
on  the  one  side  to  their  superlative  on  the  other,  hardest  to 
softest,  darkest  to  lightest,  and  so  on. 

The  gradations  of  great  and  little,  hard  and  soft,  &c.,  which 
lie  between  the  opposites,  are  the  connecting  links,  or,  as  Frobel 
puts  it,  "  the  means  of  reconciliation  of  opposites"  (andFrobel's 
system  cannot  be  rightly  understood  unless  this  principle,  which 
forms  the  basis  of  it,  be  acknowledged).  This  "  reconciliation  " 
is  effected  through  affinity  of  qualities.  Black  and  white  are 
not  alike,  but  opposite ;  the  darkest  red,  however,  is  in  affinity 
with  black,  as  the  lightest  red  is  with  white,  and  all  the  different 
^adations  of  red  connect  together  the  opposites,  black  and 
white. 

Now  any   one  who  has  compared  an  unknown  plant  with 


74  A  ^^"^  Method  of  Education. 

known  ones,  in  all  the  details  of  its  different  parts — leaf,  flower,, 
fruit,  &c.,  is  in  a  position  to  pass  judgment  on  it,  and  to 
draw  a  conclusion  as  to  whether  it  belongs  to  this  or  that  known 
genus  of  plants,  and  what  is  its  species.  Thus  the  natural 
process  of  thought  is  as  follows  :  perception,  observation,  com- 
parison,  judgment  and  conclusion. 

Without  this  series  of  preliminary  steps  no  thought  can  be 
worked  out,  and  the  ruling  principle  is  the  law  of  the  recon- 
ciliation of  opposites,  or  the  finding  out  the  like  and  unlike 
qualities  of  things. 

It  matters  not  how  far  the  thinker  be  conscious  or  un- 
conscious of  the  process  going  on  in  his  mind.  The  child  is 
entirely  unconscious  of  it,  and  therefore  takes  longer  to  reach 
from  one  stage  to  another.  At  first  it  receives  only  general  im- 
pressions ;  then  perception  comes  in ;  gradually  ideas  begin  to 
shape  themselves  in  its  mind,  and  it  then  learns  to  compare 
and  distinguish  ;  but  judging  and  concluding  do  not  begin  till 
the  third  or  fourth  year,  and  then  only  vaguely  and  dimly. 
Nevertheless,  the  same  systematic  process  is  at  work  as  in  the 
conscious  thought  of  the  adult. 

Any  system  of  instruction  which  is  to  be  effectual  must 
therefore  take  into  account  this  law  of  thought  (or  logic)  ;  it 
must  apply  the  fundamental  principle  of  connecting  the  known 
with  the  unknown  by  means  of  comparison.  This  principle  is, 
however,  everlastingly  sinned  against,  and  people  talk  to  children 
about  things  and  communicate  to  them  opinions  and  thoughts 
concerning  them,  of  which  children  have  no  conception  and 
can  form  none.  And  this  is  done  even  after  Pestalozzi  by  his 
"  method  of  observation  and  its  practical  application^^  has  placed 
instruction  on  a  true  basis. 

Of  the  manner  in  which  Frobel  has  built  up  on  this  foun- 
dation we  shall  speak  later.  We  have  here  to  deal  first  with 
education,  to  show  how  far  it  differs  from  instruction^  and, 
whether  a  systematic  or  methodical  process  is  applicable  to  it. 
as  Frobel  considers  it  to  be. 

When  Pestalozzi  was  endeavouring  to  construct  his  "  Funda- 
mental Method  of  Instruction"  ("Urform  des  Lehrens")  ac- 
cording to  some  definite  principle,  he  recognized  the  truth  that 


FrobeVs  Method,  and  what  is  New  in  It,  75 

the  problem  of  education  cannot  be  fully  solved  by  any  merely 
instructional  system  however  much  in  accordance  with  the  laws 
of  nature.  He  saw  that  the  moral  forces  of  the  human  soul, 
feeling  and  will,  require  to  be  dealt  with  in  a  manner  analogous 
to  the  cultivation  of  the  intellectual  faculties,  that  any  merely 
instructional  method  is  inadequate  to  the  task,  and  that  a 
training-school  of  another  sort  is  needed  for  the  moral  side  of 
cultivation — one  in  which  the  power  of  moral  action  may  be 
acquired.  While  searching  for  some  such  "psychological 
basis"  to  his  method  he  exclaimed,  "  I  am  still  as  the  voice  of 
one  crying  in  the  wilderness." 

As  a  means  to  this  end  he  requires  an  A  B  C  of  the  science 
and  a  system  of  moral  exercises,  and  he  says  :  "  The  culture  of 
the  moral  faculties  rests  on  the  same  organic  laws  which  are 
thfc  foundation  of  our  intellectual  culture. 

Fichte  (in  his  "Discourses")  insists  on  an  "A  B  C  of  per- 
ception," which  is  to  precede  Pestalozzi's  "ABC  of  observation," 
and  speaks  as  follows  :  "  The  new  method  of  education  must  be 
able  to  shape  and  determine  its  pupil's  course  of  life  according 
to  fixed  and  infallible  rules." 

"  There  must  be  a  definite  system  of  rules  by  which  always, 
without  exception,  a  firm  will  may  be  produced." 

The  development  of  children  into  men  and  women  must  be 
brought  under  the  laws  of  a  well-considered  system,  which 
shall  never  fail  to  accomplish  its  end,  viz.,  the  cultivation  in 
them  of  a  firm  and  invariably  right  will. 

This  moral  activity,  which  has  to  be  developed  in  the  pupil, 
is  without  doubt  based  on  laws,  which  laws  the  agent  finds 
out  for  himself  by  direct  personal  experience,  and  the  same 
holds  good  of  the  voluntary  development  carried  on  later, 
which  cannot  be  fruitful  of  good  results  unless  based  on  the 
fundamental  laws  of  nature. 

Thus  Pestalozzi  and  Fichte — like  all  thinkers  on  the  question 
of  education — searched  for  the  laws  of  human  nature,  in 
order  to  apply  these  laws  in  the  cultivation  of  human  nature. 

Frobel  strove  to  refer  back  all  these  manifold  laws  to  one 
fundamental  law  which  he  called  the  "  reconciliation  of  oppo- 
sites  "  (of  relative  opposites). 


76  A  Nezv  Method  of  Education, 

In  order  to  arrive  at  a  clear  and  comprehensive  conception, 
where  there  is  plurality  and  variety,  we  seek  a  point  of  unity, 
in  which  all  the  different  parts  or  laws  may  centre,  and  to  which 
they  may  be  referred.  For  the  undeveloped  mind  of  the 
child  this  is  an  absolute  necessity.  The  method,  which  is  to  be 
the  rule  of  his  activity,  must  be  as  simple  and  as  single  as 
possible.  This  necessity  will  be  made  plain  when  we  proceed 
later  on  to  the  application  of  Frobel's  theory  in  practice. 

Frobel's  observations  of  the  human  soul  are  in  accord  with 
the  general  results  of  modern  psychology,  in  spite  of  small  de- 
viations which  cannot  be  considered  important.  Science  has 
not  by  a  long  way  arrived  at  final  conclusions  on  this  subject, 
and  must,  therefore,  give  its  due  weight  to  every  reasonable 
assumption ;  it  would  be  most  unprofitable  to  drag  Frobel's 
system  into  the  judgement  hall  of  scientific  schools,  in  order^o 
decide  how  far  it  agreed  with  these  schools  or  not.  Its  impor- 
tance lies  for  the  moment  chiefly  in  its  practical  side.  In  order 
to  preserve  this  part  of  it  from  becoming  mechanical,  and  to 
maintain  its  vitality,  its  connection  with  the  theoretical  side 
must  be  understood  and  expounded  more  and  more  thoroughly. 
With  the  advance  of  science  Frobel's  philosophy  of  the  uni- 
verse must  in  course  of  time  have  its  proper  place  assigned 
to  it,  and  his  educational  system,  which  is  grounded  on  his 
philosophy,  will  be  brought  into  the  necessary  connection  with 
other  scientific  discoveries. 

The  great  endeavour  of  modern  educationalists,  is  to  replace 
the  artificiality  and  restraint  in  which  the  purely  conven- 
tional educational  systems  of  earlier  times  have  resulted  by 
something  more  corresponding  to  human  nature.  To  this  end 
it  was  necessary  to  go  back  to  the  ground  motives  of  all 
education  whatsoever :  the  laws  of  development  of  the  human 
being.  It  was  necessary  at  the  same  time  to  determine  the 
reason  of  educational  measures  in  order  to  elevate  them  into 
conscious,  purposeful  action.  Former  conventional  systems  of 
education  worked  only  unconsciously,  according  to  established 
custom,  without  any  deep  knowledge  of  human  nature  or 
fundamental  relation  to  it. 

The  science  of  humanity  was  then  in  its  infancy,  and,  although 


FrobeVs  Method,  and  what  is  New  in  It.  77 

it  has  since  made  great  progress,  tlie  knowledge  of  cliild  nature 
is  still  very  meagre. 

The  services  rendered  by  Rousseau,  as  the  first  pioneer  of 
modern  educational  theories,  and  the  many  errors  and  eccen- 
tricities mixed  up  with  his  great  truths,  must  here  be  assumed 
to  be  known. 

Pestalozzi,  who  carried  on  the  work  in  the  same  track,  fixed 
the  elements  of  his  "  Urform  des  Lehrens  "  in  form,  number, 
and  words,  as  the  fundamental  conditions  of  human  mental 
arctivity,  and  which  can  only  be  acquired  and  gained  by 
observation. 

For  instance,  every  visible  and  every  thinkable  thing  has  a 
jonn  which  makes  it  what  it  is.  There  are  things  of  like  and 
things  of  different  form,  and  there  is  a  plurality  of  things 
which  stands  in  opposition  to  every  single  thing.  Through 
the  division  of  things  arises  number,  and  the  proportions  and 
relations  of  things  to  one  another.  In  order  to  express  these 
different  proportions  of  form  and  number,  we  have  need  of  words. 

Thus  in  these  three  elements  we  have  the  most  primitive 
facts  on  which  thought  is  based.  In  every  form,  every  number, 
and  every  word  there  exist  two  connected  or  united  opposites. 
In  every  form,  for  instance,  we  find  the  two  opposites,  beginning 
and  end,  right  and  left,  upper  and  under,  inner  and  outer,  and 
so  forth. 

With  regard  to  number,  unity  and  plurality,  as  well  as  odd 
and  even  numbers,  constitute  opposites.  Then  form  and 
number  are  in  themselves  opposites,  for  form  has  to  do  with 
the  whole,  number  with  the  separate  parts.  But  the  word  by 
which  they  are  described  reconciles  these  opposites  by  compre- 
hending them  both  in  one  expression. 

Pestalozzi  has  begun  the  work  of  basing  instruction  system- 
atically on  the  most  primitive  facts  and  workings  of  the 
human  mind.  To  carry  on  this  work,  and  also  to  find  the 
equally  necessary  basis  for  moral  and  practical  culture,  with 
which  must  be  combined  exercises  for  the  intellectual  powers 
before  the  period  allotted  to  instruction^  is  the  task  that  remains 
to  be  accomplished.  Pestalozzi's  plan  and  practical  methods 
are  not  altogether  sufficient  for  the  first  years  of  life. 


yS  A  New  Method  of  Education. 


It  is  a  false  use  of  language  whicli  separates  education  from 
instruction.  The  word  education,  in  its  full  meaning  of  human 
culture,  as  a  whole,  includes  instruction  as  apart,  and  comprises 
in  itself  mental,  moral,  and  physical  development ;  but  in  its 
narrower  use  it  signifies,  more  especially,  moral  culture. 

One  of  the  reasons  why  instruction  has  been  so  much  more 
considered  and  systematized  than  the  moral  side  of  education 
is,  undoubtedly,  that  the  former  is  in  the  hands  of  educational 
and  school  authorities  who  possess  the  mental  training  and 
capacity  necessary  for  their  vocation,  No  one  is  allowed  to  be  a 
professional  teacher  who  has  not  proved  himself  to  possess  a 
certain  degree  of  proficiency  for  the  task.  Moral  education,  on 
the  other  hand,  falls  to  the  supervision  of  the  family,  as  the 
first  and  natural  guardians  of  its  children,  and  here  neither  the 
father  nor  the  mother,  nor  any  of  the  other  sharers  in  the  work, 
are  really  fitted  for  it ;  not  one  of  them  has  received  a  special 
preparation,  and  it  depends  entirely  upon  the  higher  or  lower 
degree  of  general  culture  of  the  parents,  and  their  natural 
capacity  or  non-capacity  for  their  educational  calling,  how  far 
the  moral  culture  of  the  children  will  extend. 

But  over  and  above  the  preparatory  training  of  parents  and 
other  natural  guardians — which  was  already  insisted  on  and 
striven  after  by  Pestalozzi — moral  education  will  only  then  be 
placed  on  a  par  with  intellectual  instruction  when  a  real  founda- 
tion has  been  given  to  it  by  the  application  of  a  fixed  system  of 
rules,  such  a  foundation  as  the  laws  of  thought  afford  for  instruc- 
tion. 

The  human  soul  is  one,  all  its  powers  and  functions  have  a 
like  aim,  and,  therefore,  feeling  and  willing — as  factors  of  moral 
life — cannot  be  developed  in  any  other  way  than  thought.  The 
parts  which  make  up  the  whole  of  education  must  be  subject  to 
the  same  laws  as  the  whole,  and  conversely  the  whole  must  be 
developed  in  like  manner  as  the  parts. 

The  moral  world  is  concerned  with  two  aspects  of  things — the 
good  and  the  beautiful — while  the  understanding  has  the  dis- 
covery of  truth  for  its  object. 

Both  the  good  and  the  beautiful  have  their  roots  in  the  heart 
or  the  feelings,  and  belong  thus  to  the   inner  part  of  man — to 


Probers  Method,  and  what  is  New  in  It.  79 

liis  spiritual  world.  The  power  and  liabit  of  feeling  rightly  and 
beautifully  constitute  moral  inclination,  which  influences  the 
will,  but  does  not  yet  necessarily  lead  it  to  action. 

In  its  connection  with  the  outer  world  morality  appears  in 
the  form  of  action.  Through  action,  or  the  carrying  out  of  the 
good  that  is  willed,  the  character  is  formed.  The  practice  of  the 
beautiful,  on  the  other  hand,  leads  to  art  and  artistic  creation. 

Thus  education,  in  its  essentially  moral  aspect,  has  to  do  with 
the  cultivation  of  the  feelings  and  the  will.  It  need  hardly  be 
said  that  the  element  of  instruction  cannot  be  altogether  dis- 
pensed with,  even  in  this  department,  any  more  than  the  culti- 
vation of  the  intellect  can  be  carried  on  without  a  certain 
amount  of  moral  development.  In  earliest  childhood  the  three 
different  natures  of  the  human  being  are  fused  in  one  and  must 
be  dealt  with  accordingly. 

The  good  and  the  beautiful,  like  all  other  qualities,  are  known 
through  their  opposites.  Only  by  contrast  with  the  not  good, 
or  bad,  the  not  beautiful,  or  ugly,  are  the  good  and  the  beautiful 
apprehended  by  our  consciousness. 

As  mental  conce^ptions,  the  good  and  the  bad,  the  beautiful  and 
the  ugly,  the  true  and  the  untrue,  are  irreconcilable  (absolute) 
opposites.  Pure  thought,  however,  has  to  deal  with  the  absolute. 
In  all  the  manifestations  of  the  actual  world  everything  that 
exists  is  only  relatively  good  and  bad,  ugly  and  beautiful,  true  and 
untrue  ;  all  opposites  exist  here  only  relatively.  No  human 
being  is  perfectly  good  or  perfectly  bad,  just  as  nobody  is  com- 
pletely developed  or  completely  undeveloped.  So,  too,  no  work 
of  art  is  in  an  absolute  sense  perfectly  beautiful,  or  perfectly 
ugly — whether  as  a  whole  or  in  its  parts. 

,  As,  therefore,  in  all  and  everything  belonging  to  the  human 
world  opposites  are  found  existing  together,  so,  also,  do  they 
pass  over  into  one  another  and  are  "  reconciled."  Thus  every- 
thing is  connected  together,  and  constitutes  an  immense  chain  of 
different  members. 

We  do  not  mean  to  say  that  already  in  the  actual  world  all 
opposites  are  reconciled,  all  discords  solved,  and  the  great  world- 
harmony  complete  ;  but  it  is  going  on  to  completion.  This  is 
the  aim  and  end  of  all  movement,  all  life,  all  endeavour,  and  an 


So  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

end  whicli  is  only  fully  attainable  to  human  beings  by  the- 
cessation  of  all  self-seeking  (as  in  Christ),  the  absorption  of  all 
individuals  into  humanity ;  and  this  by  means  of  the  highest 
individual  development  and  self-existence ;  not  by  transforming 
the  individual  into  the  universal. 

In  the  most  fundamental  bases  of  good  and  evil  we  find  again 
two  new  opposites. 

In  whatever  form  evil  manifests  itself,  it  is  always  at  bottom 
self-seeking  of  some  sort ;  or  else  it  is  error  or  madness.  Am- 
bition, pride,  avarice,  envy,  dishonesty,  murder,  hatred,  &c.,  may 
always  be  traced  back  to  self-seeking,  even  though  it  be  disguised 
in  the  form  of  extravagant  affection  for  others,  or  for  one  other. 
So,  too,  what  we  call  diabolical  is,  in  reality,  self-seeking. 

And  whatever  shape  good  may  take  it  must  be  essentially 
the  expression  of  love  to  others.  A  solitary  individual  in  no- 
way connected  with  fellow-creatures  would  have  as  little  op- 
portunity for  good  as  for  evil. 

All  the  impulses  and  passions  of  a  human  being  have  for 
their  object  the  procurance  of  personal  happiness  and  well-being 
and  the  avoidance  of  personal  annoyance.  And  as  long  as  the 
happiness  and  well-being  of  others  is  not  disturbed,  nor  the  indi- 
vidual himself  injured,  there  is  nothing  to  be  said.  The  conflict 
between  good  and  evil  begins  when  the  happiness  of  an  in- 
dividual is  procured  at  the  cost  of  others  or  of  the  community. 

True  goodness  consists,  with  rare  exceptions,  in  preferring  the 
welfare  of  the  many  or  of  the  whole  of  human  society,  to  per- 
sonal, egotistical  advantage ;  in  striving  after  an  ideal  which, 
without  self-sacrificing  love,  would  be  unthinkable.  Love  to- 
wards God,  moreover,  compels  love  towards  mankind. 

The  moral  battle-field  is  always  between  the  two  extremities 
of  personal  and  universal  interest,  and  the  reconciliation  of  the 
two  is  the  result  aimed  at.  There  also  where  the  battle  goes  on 
in  the  inner  world  of  the  human  soul  it  is  a  question  of  personal 
against  general  interest,  or  of  the  opposition  between  the  sen- 
sual and  the  spiritual  natures  of  the  individual.  The  object  of 
man's  earthly  existence  is  to  reconcile  the  rights  of  personality, 
self-preservation  and  independence  with  the  duties  of  neces- 
sary   devotion    and    self-sacrifice    to    society.      The    personal 


Probers  Method,  and  what  is  Nezu  in  It.  8i 

services  rendered  to  the  ivhole,  in  any  circle  of  life,  determine 
the  worth  of  the  individual  to  society,  and  moral  greatness  con- 
sists in  the  love  which,  going  ont  beyond  the  personal,  seeks  to 
embrace  the  whole  of  God's  world — and  therewith  God  him- 
self. For  God  has  herein  placed  the  destiny  of  man,  viz.,  to 
expand  from  the  circle  of  individual  existence,  through  all  in- 
termediate circles,  to  the  great  circle  of  humanity. 

In  the  world  of  the  beautiful  we  meet  with  the  same  law,  viz., 
"  the  reconciliation  of  opposites." 

What  do  we  mean  by  the  beautiful  ?  That  which  is  harmonious 
or  rhythmical.  Harmony  is  the  co-operation  of  all  the  parts  of 
a  whole  towards  the  object  of  the  whole.  If  the  innermost 
nature  of  beauty  baffles  our  attempts  at  full  definition,  har- 
mony is,  nevertheless,  its  fundamental  condition. 

But  a  necessary  condition  of  harmony  is  the  balance  of  parts 
tending  in  opposite  directions. 

Beauty  of  form  (plastic  art)  depends  on  the  opposites,  height 
and  breadth,  for  instance,  being  rightly  proportioned  or 
balanced  ;  on  the  contrasting  horizontal  and  perpendicular  lines 
being  kept  in  balance  by  their  connecting  lines.  In  the  circle 
we  have  the  perfect  balance  of  all  opposite  parts,  and  the  circular 
line  is,  therefore,  the  line  of  beauty.  In  architecture  the  tri- 
angle is  the  fundamental  shape — that  is  to  say,  two  lines  start- 
ing from  one  point  and  running  in  opposite  directions  are 
connected  together  by  a  third  line.     And  so  forth. 

Beauty  in  the  world  of  colour  is  the  harmonious  blending 
together  of  the  opposites,  light  and  shade,  by  means  of  the 
scale  of  colour — this  at  least  is  the  primary  condition.  The 
.mixing  of  colours,  too,  consists  in  the  right  fusion  of  the  ele- 
mentary colours — red,  blue,  yellow,  which  in  themselves  form 
opposites. 

In  the  world  of  sound  beauty  is  in  like  manner  conditioned 
by  the  harmony  of  single  tones  amongst  each  other.  The  basis 
of  musical  harmony  is  the  simple  chord,  ^.e.,  the  opposites, 
which  the  keynote  and  the  fifth  constitute,  are  reconciled  by 
the  third. 

In  poetry  rhythm  is  obtained  by  the  regular  connection  of 
long  and  short  syllables.     And  so  forth. 

O 


82  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

The  "Ugly,  the  imperfect,  in  all  arts,  is  on  the  other  hand  the 
inharmoniouF— or  the  result  of  want  of  proportion  and  corres- 
pondence in  opposites — or  the  absence  of  transitions  to  con- 
nect them  together. 

And  we  come  again  across  these  same  laws,  which  we  have 
summed  up  as  the  basis  of  thought,  in  the  moral  world  also  : 
as  well  in  that  side  o .  ^'t  which  is  known  as  "  the  good  "  (ethics), 
as  in  that  which  is  c^-.'ed  "  the  beautiful"  (aesthetics). 

Whether  tlii-5  universal  principle  (Welt  gesetz — world  law, 
as  Frobol  c^^lls  ifl  be  formulated  as  "  the  reconciliation  of  op- 
positos  "  or  ill  an r  other  way,  is  here,  as  has  been  already  said, 
of  littlo  imp  )rtance.  The  most  comprehensive  formula  would 
perh''iM  b^  I  tw  of  halance. 

Science  expresses  itself  very  differently  in  this  matter.  New- 
ton calls  the  law  in  question  the  "law  of  gravitation"  (the  con- 
nection of  attraction  and  repulsion).  Naturalists  designate  it 
as  the  law  of  "  universal  exchange  of  matter  "  (giving  out  and 
taking  in,  connected  by  assimilation),  &c. 

This  law,  in  which  Frobel  sees  the  foundation  of  all  develop- 
ment, an!!,  therefore,  also  of  human  development — it  is  his  desire 
to  establish  and  apply  as  the  "  universal  law  of  education." 

It  is  with  the  application  of  the  law,  which  will  be  demon- 
strated in  the  practices  of  his  Kindergarten  method,  that  we 
are  chiefly  concerned  here,  but  in  order  to  a  clear  understanding 
of  this  the  foregoing  introduction  was  indispensable. 

Not  till  one  all-pervading  principle  of  development,  which 
shall  comprise  in  itself  every  variety  of  law,  has  been  dis- 
covered and  applied  to  practical  education  in  its  minutest  de- 
tail will  there  be  anything  approaching  to  a  veritable  and  com- 
plete method. 

It  remains,  therefore,  now  to  prove  that  this  principle  of  Fro- 
bel's  is  identical  in  the  spiritual  and  material  world,  and,  if  this 
be  established,  the  connection  or  unity  of  all  law  will  follow  of 
itself. 

Frobel  has  over  and  over  again  told  us  how  deeply  his  whole 
development  was  influenced  by  the  fact  that  from  his  earliest 
childhood  he  was  out  of  havrccny  with  his  immediate  surround- 
ings.    The  early  death  of  his  rcother,  the  unloving  treatment 


Probers  Method ^  and  what  is  New  in  It.  83 

•of  his  step-motlier,  and  the  small  amount  of  attention  and 
sympathy  bestowed  on  him  by  his  father,  partly  owing  to  the 
professional  duties  of  the  latter,  which  left  him  little  time,  and 
partly  to  an  uncommunicative  and  somewhat  stern  nature, 
deprived  the  child  of  fostering  love  in  the  morning  of  his  life, 
and  initiated  him  early  into  the  sorrows  of  existence. 

The  yearning  of  his  soul  for  love,  the  thirst  of  his  mind  for 
knowledge,  were  never  really  satisfied,  and  he  was  for  ever  find- 
ing himself  driven  back  anew  on  the  inmost  depths  of  his 
nature,  left  to  stand  by  himself  alone.  Up  to  the  years  of  early 
manhood  the  gulf  between  his  outer  surroundings  and  his 
inner  world  became  greater  and  greater,  and  his  young  spirit 
suffered  deeply  in  consequence. 

The  pain  that  he  experienced  incited  him  to  search  out  the 
cause  of  it,  and  this  he  found  in  the  sharp  contrast  that  existed 
between  his  inner  and  his  outer  world. 

This  discovery  of  "  opposites,"  this  want  of  the  concord 
and  harmony  that  his  whole  soul  was  unconsciously  yearning 
after,  forms  the  first  great  and  lasting  impression  of  his 
life. 

The  feelings  which  met  with  no  response  in  the  world  of 
humanity,  all  the  warmth  and  ardour  of  his  soul,  now  turned  to 
the  world  of  nature.  In  the  contemplation  of  this  world,  in 
devotion  to  its  invisible  spirit,  in  which  he  soon  learnt  to 
recognize  the  Divine  Spirit,  he  found  the  consolation,  and  also 
in  part  the  instruction  which  had  been  denied  him  by  his  human 
surroundings. 

Already  as  a  boy  he  would  lose  himself  in  profound  medita- 
tion on  the  laws  of  the  universe,  on  the  cause  of  organic  life  in 
nature. 

"  From  star-shaped  blossoms,"  he  says,  "  I  first  learnt  to 
understand  the  law  of  all  formation,  and  it  is  no  other  than  the 
*  reconciliation  of  opposites.'" 

For  instance :  Each  of  the  petals  which  form  the  corolla 
round  the  calyx  of  the  flower  has  another  petal  opposite  it,  and 
between  these  opposite  petals  there  are  others  which  connect 
cthem  together. 

"A  humble  little  flower  taught  me  dimly  to  suspect  the 

a  2 


84  A  New  Method  of  Education. 


S3crets  of  existence,  the  mysterions  laws  of  development,  whicli 
I  afterwards  learnt  clearly,"  so  writes  Frobel. 

Continuing  his  observations,  he  perceived  that  every  single 
petal  is  in  itself  a  whole  leaf,  or  a  whole,  but  at  the  same  time 
only  a  part  of  the  whole  of  the  floral  star.  Thus  a  whole  and  a  part 
at  the  same  time,  or  a  glied  ganzes,  as  Frobel  expresses  it.  Then 
again,  the  flower  is  a  whole  in  itself,  but  also  only  a  part  of  the 
whole  plant.  The  plant  is  a  whole,  and  at  the  same  time  a  part 
of  the  plant  family  to  which  it  belongs,  and  this  again  is  a  part 
of  the  genus. 

In  such  manner  did  the  child  Frobel  perceive  the  membership 
in  all  natural  objects,  and  he  remarked  at  the  same  time  how 
one  part  is  always  sub-related  or  super-related  or  co-related  to 
another;  the  flower  is  super-related  to  the  root,  the  root  is 
sub-related  to  the  flower,  the  petals  are  co-related  to  each  other. 

These  divisions  into  members,  which  are  found  in  all  organic 
and  systematic  formations,  are  now  taught  to  children  at  school 
by  means  of  books  ;  it  is  a  question,  however,  whether  in  this 
way  they  can  grasp  them  as  easily  and  understand  them  as 
clearly  as  did  the  child  Frobel,  through  his  own  observation. 
The  first  apprehension  of  things  comes  long  before  school 
instruction,  and  what  is  taught  with  words  must  be  based  on 
that  which  has  been  taken  in  through  the  senses.  If  this 
first  apprehension  through  observation  is  wanting,  the  founda- 
tion for  the  understanding  of  what  is  taught  will  also  be 
ivanting. 

In  the  progressive  course  of  his  childish  observations,  Frobel 
further  remarked  that  it  is  not  only  in  individual  organisms^ 
that  the  differents  parts,  by  means  of  connecting  transitions  (or 
the  reconciliation  of  opposites)  make  up  the  harmony  of  the 
whole,  but  that  also  between  all  and  the  most  different  organ- 
isms there  are  everywhere  to  be  found  like  points  of  transition, 
which  connect  together  the  most  opposite  things  by  a  series  of 
intermediate  points  growing  more  and  more  similar.  Thus^ 
through  a  countless  series  of  intermediate  plants  he  saw  grasses 
connected  with  trees. 

The  connection  in  the  vegetable  kingdom  became  apparent 
to  him  through  the  fact  that  all  plants,  how  great  soever  their 


Probers  Method,  and  what  is  New  in  It,  85 


differences,  have  something  in  common;  all  have  roots,  stems, 
leaves,  crowns,  stamens,  &c.,  the  characteristics  of  the  vegetable 
world.     Thus  unity  in  spite  of  infinite  variety. 

But  it  w^as  not  in  the  vegetable  world  alone  that  organic  life 
manifested  itself  to  him  as  the  result  of  systematic  working,  of 
division  into  parts,  of  a  series  of  events,  of  sub  and  super  ordi- 
nation, of  connection  through  transitions,  of  variety  in  simi- 
larity, in  short,  of  harmony  and  concord  accomplished  through 
the  reconciliation  of  opposites  ;  he  saw  the  self-same  truth  per- 
vading other  kingdoms  of  nature.  In  the  organism  of  animal 
bodies,  indeed,  in  the  whole  animal  kingdom,  he  found  his  law 
ut  work  again. 

As  the  sap  of  plants  ascends  and  descends  from  the  root  to 
the  crown,  and  conversely,  and  through  this  movement  connects 
together  the  opposite  forces,  expansion  and  contraction  through 
which  the  leaf-buds  are  formed  in  the  stem,  so  is  the  circulation 
of  blood  in  the  animal  body.  The  blood  streams  out  from  the 
heart,  and  back  to  it  again  by  opposite  movements ;  the  lungs 
expand  and  contract  together  in  the  process  of  breathing,  &c. 
As  the  corresponding  petals  of  a  flower  stand  opposite  one 
another,  so  do  the  limbs  of  animal  bodies ;  the  corresponding 
feet,  hands,  ears,  or  eyes,  are  placed  opposite  to  one  another. 
Frobel  calls  this  entgegengesetztgleiche  (like  things  set  opposite 
to  each  other),  and  he  finds  analogous  occurrences  in  the  spiritual 
world. 

And  further,  he  perceived  that  not  only  throughout  each  of 
the  three  kingdoms  of  nature — the  inorganic  mineral  kingdom 
not  excepted — there  exist  common  characteristics  by  which  the 
members  of  the  separate  kingdoms  are  united,  but  that  these 
three  kingdoms,  taken  as  wholes,  have  points  of  similarity 
through  which  they  pass  over  into  one  another,  and  are  con- 
nected together.  He  saw  that  the  vegetable  world  is  fed  by 
the  mineral  world,  which  is  contained  both  in  the  bosom  of  the 
earth  and  in  the  atmosphere ;  that  the  vegetable  and  mineral 
worlds  together  feed  the  animal  world,  which  also  feeds  upon 
itself ;  and  that  man,  by  the  food  he  eats,  by  the  air  he  breathes 
in,  &c.,  lives  on  all  the  three  kingdoms  of  nature,  and  is  thus 
united  and  connected  with  thor^. 


S6  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

Here,  too,  in  the  cliemical  process  of  fusion,  wMcli  is  knoTSTi 
as  "  interchange  of  matter,"  he  found  his  favourite  law  again. 
For  this  process  of  interchange  goes  on  as  follows : — Every 
organism  takes  or  sucks  in  nourishment,  air,  &c.,  and  then  gives 
out  again  part  of  what  it  has  taken  in.  Here,  therefore,  we 
have  the  opposites,  taking  in  and  giving  out.  The  reconciliation 
of  these  opposites  is  accomplished  by  appropriation  or  assimi- 
lation, for  every  organic  body  converts  a  portion  of  what  it  has 
taken  in  in  the  shape  of  food,  air,  &c.,  into  flesh  and  blood ; 
and  thus  there  is  a  constant  mutual  exchange  of  substance 
going  on  between  all  organisms.  And  this  process  of  exchange, 
by  which  everything  that  exists  is  connected  together  organically 
and  materially,  is  not  thinkable  without  the  adjusting  of  oppo- 
sites, or,  as  Frobel  calls  it,  "  the  reconciliation  of  opposites." 

But  this  was  not  all.  Besides  the  continuous  connection,  the^ 
xmity  which  he  discovered  to  exist  in  everything  on  earth,  from 
the  lowest  to  the  highest,  from  the  nearest  object  to  the  most 
distant,  the  same  truth  was  borne  in  upon  him  concerning  the 
solar  system.  There  was  not  the  tiniest  herb  on  earth  that 
did  not  drink  in  and  feed  on  the  sunlight.  Without  the  con- 
tinuous action  of  the  sun's  rays  on  all  that  exists  on  earth,  all 
life  must  perish ;  the  earth  would  be  a  dead  body  without  the 
light  and  warmth  of  the  sun.  And  as  everything  on  our  earth 
is  kept  alive  by  the  action  of  the  sun,  so  is  it  with  all  the 
heavenly  bodies  on  which  the  sun  shines,  every  single  planet  of 
our  solar  system. 

And  further  still,  our  solar  system  itself  is  not  isolated,  alone 
and  unconnected  with  the  other  solar  systems  of  the  universe. 
Arguing  from  the  known  (or  that  which  was  nearest  to  him) 
to  the  unknown  (or  that  which  was  furthest),  from  the  visible 
to  the  invisible,  Frobel  concluded  that  the  law  of  membership, 
which  he  had  found  to  exist  in  the  least  as  well  as  the  greatest 
organisms,  and  in  all  organisms  on  the  earth,  must  in  a  like  or 
analogous  manner  pervade  the  whole  universe. 

The  works  of  a  Creator  must  be  in  connection  one  with 
another,  and  all,  without  exception,  bear  the  stamp  of  their 
Creator.  Not  necessarily  in  exactly  the  same  degree,  but  in 
p^'adations  from  lowest  to  highest,  and  not  in  outward  appear- 


Probers  Method,  and  what  is  New  in  It.  d>y 

ance  either,  but  by  one  and  the  same  system  of  law,  according 
to  which  each  and  all  are  developed,  must  this  stamp  of  God 
show  itself. 

"  There  is  but  one  fundamental  law  of  the  universe  out  of 
which  all  other  laws  in  the  world  of  outward  phenomena 
spring."  Thus  did  A.  von  Humboldt  also  express  the  truth 
which  is  the  fundamental  thought  on  which  Frobel's  method  of 
observation  rests.* 

Frobel  has  certainly  about  as  good  a  right  to  argue  from  the 
visible  and  known  things  of  earth  to  the  invisible  unknown 
things  of  the  universe,  as  has  the  naturalist  from  a  given  ver- 
tebrae to  undertake  to  construct  the  whole  organism  of  an 
animal. 

In  a  letter  to  his  elder  brother,t  written  in  his  twenty-fifth 
year,  Frobel  sketches  out  a  plan  for  his  future  life.  A  passage 
in  this  letter,  alluding  to  his  childhood  and  early  youth,  plainly 
shows  how  from  his  childhood  up  he  busied  himself  with  the 
attempt  to  reconcile  the  workings  of  nature  with  his  own  inner 
world,  and  to  find  the  points  of  unity  between  the  two.  To 
understand  the  connection  of  all  phenomena  of  the  outward 
world,  and  the  way  in  which  these  harmonized  with  the  spiritual 
world,  was  his  constant  endeavour. 

Speaking  of  things  in  Nature,  he  says  : — "  I  felt  that  some- 
thing simple  informed  them  all,  that  they  all  had  their  origin 
from  something  which  was  one,  the  same,  identical;  that  they 
must  all  unite  together  in  some  one  point ;  for  they  all  existed 
collectively  in  Nature  !  My  own  inner  world  was  inspired  by 
one  thought,  one  idea — the  suspicion  of  something  higher  in 
man  than  humanity,  of  a  higher  end  than  this  life.  By  means 
of  this  continual  searching  and  finding  in  the  depths  of  my 
inner  being,  this  constant  going  down  into  self,  I  soon  discovered 
that  a  better  knowledge  of  myself  helped  me  better  to  under- 
stand the  outer  world.  I  was  driven  to  explore  my  little  inner 
world,  that  through  it  I  might  learn  to  know  the  great  outer 
world  surrounding  me.     I  learnt  from  the  teacher  experience, 

*  Frobel  searched  after  and  discovered  the  "  unity  of  all  development,"  a 
theory  which  is  universally  occupying  modern  scientific  enquiry. 
f  In  vol.  I.  of  "  Frobel's  Schriften,"  edited  by  W.  Lange. 


8S  A  Ni-iu  Met/iod  of  Education, 

withoiit  siispecting,  without  even  knowing  clearly,  what  T  was 
learning.  In  this  way  I  arrived  at  an  ideal  knowledge  of  my- 
self, of  the  world,  and .  of  humanity,  such  as  few  men  possess 
in  youth.  For  every  fresh  discovery  that  I  made  in  the  out- 
ward world  I  felt  always  compelled  to  find  a  corresponding  point 
in  myself,  to  which  I  could  fasten  it,"  &c. 

Frobel  was  then  seeking  for  what  he  later  designated  by  the 
expression  Lehenseinigung  (unity  of  life). 

In  the  life  of  the  human  soul  he  saw  a  repetition  of  the  con- 
tinual adjustment  of  oppositcs,  which  went  on  in  the  life  of 
nature.  As  the  opposites  of  day  and  night  were  connected  by 
twilight,  of  summer  and  winter  by  spring  and  autumn,  so  in 
the  human  soul  do  the  day  and  night  of  conscious  and  uncon- 
scious life,  the  light  and  darkness  of  good  and  evil,  alternate 
with  one  another.  So,  too,  activity  and  rest,  happiness  and 
sorrow,  &c. 

As  the  buds  which  burst  open  in  the  spring  have  developed 
out  of  the  invisible  germ  hidden  under  the  hard  crust  of  winter, 
so  do  the  opposites,  life  and  death,  alternate.  And  these  are 
only  seemingly  irreconcilable  opposites.  All  earthly  life  con- 
tains within  itself  the  germ  of  death  (of  future  change),  all 
death  carries  new  life  within  it. 

"  How  can  any  one,"  Frobel  exclaims,  "  believe  in  real  death, 
in  annihilation  ?  Nothing  dies ;  everything  only  becomes 
changed  in  order  to  pass  into  a  new  and  higher  life.  This  is 
true  of  every  little  herb,  for  its  essential  inherent  qualities 
are  indestructible.  Everything  retains  in  each  of  its  parts 
the  individual  character  assigned  to  it,  i.e.,  its  essence,  to  all 
eternity.  How,  then,  should  the  most  marked  characteristic 
of  a  human  being,  the  consciousness  of  his  own  individual  per- 
sonality, be  lost,  even  though  he  should  pass  through  millions  of 
new  existences  ?  What  you  people  call  death  is  nowhere  to  be 
found  in  creation,  but  only  expansion,  life  ascending  higher  and 
higher,  always  nearer  to  God.  If  you  only  knew  how  to  read  the 
book  of  nature  rightly  you  would  find  everywhere  in  it  the  con- 
iirmation  of  the  revelation  of  the  soul's  immortality.  Through- 
out the  whole  of  nature  there  is  nothing  but  continually  re- 
peated resurrection !  .  .  .  .  The  universal  and  the  individual 


FrobeVs  Method,  and  what  is  New  in  It.         89 

are  opposites,  which  presuppose  one  another.  Without  indi- 
vidual human  beings  there  would  be  no  humanity,  and  without 
humanity  there  would  be  no  individuals.  The  race  only  con- 
tinues because  the  personal  units  continue.  Humanity  com- 
prises not  only  mankind  of  to-day,  but  mankind  of  the  past 
and  of  the  future;  all  the  human  beings  that  have  ever  existed 
on  earth  make  up  humanity,  and  humanity  presupposes  con- 
scious existence,  both  general  and  personal." 

The  above  quotations  from  Frobel's  own  words  will  be  suffi- 
cient proof  that  his  theory  of  the  unity  of  life  (Lebenseinigung) 
did  not,  as  has  been  asserted,  rest  on  a  pantheistic  conception 
of  the  universe.  The  immense  unbroken  whole  of  the  universe 
comprises,  according  to  him,  God,  nature,  and  man,  as  an  in- 
separably connected  whole,  though  not  as  finished  and  at  rest, 
but  on  the  contrary,  in  a  state  of  eternal  "becoming" — of 
having  become  and  being  about  to  become,  at  the  same  time. 
He  had  always  in  view  the  progressive  development  of  all 
things — that  is  to  say,  the  continual  movement  of  forces ;  he 
saw  nowhere  repose — or  at  any  rate  only  passing  repose — 
never  lasting  completion,  for  every  apparently  finished  form 
of  development  was  always  succeeded  by  a  new  one. 

In  his  "  Menschen-Erziehung  "  (Human  Education)  [see  In- 
troduction], he  says,  for  instance:  "  The  theory  which  regards 
development  as  capable  of  standing  still  and  being  finished,  or 
only  repeating  itself  in  greater  universality,  is,  beyond  all  expres- 
sion, a  degrading  one,  &c Neither   man   nor  mankind 

should  be  regarded  as  an  already  finished,  perfected,  stereotyped 
being ;  but  as  everlastingly  growing,  developing,  living ;  moving 

onwards  to  the  goal  which  is  hidden  in   eternity Man, 

although  in  the  closest  connection  with  God  and  nature,  stands, 
nevertheless,  as  a  person  in  the  relation  of  an  opposite  to  nature 
(or  plurality)  and  to  God  (or  unity).  (Nature  and  God  are 
opposites  in  their  character  of  plurality  and  unity.)  Man  (as 
humanity)  is  the  representative  of  the  law  of  reconciliation,  for 
he  stands  in  the  universe  as  the  connecting  link  between  God 
and  creation."  (For  unconscious  existence  and  absolute 
conscious  existence  are  connected  by  personal,  or  limited  con- 
scious existence.) 


90  A  Neiv  Method  of  Education. 

"  As  tlie  brancli  is  a  member  of  the  tree,  and  at  the  same  time 
a  whole,  so  is  the  individual  man  a  member  of  humanity,  and 
therefore  a  member  of  a  whole.  But  each  one  is  a  member  in 
an  entirely  special,  individual,  personal  manner;  the  destiny 
of  humanity — that  is  'to  be  a  child  of  God ' — manifests  itself 
differently  in  each  individual. 

"  One  and  the  same  law  rules  throughout  everything,  but 
expresses  itself  outwardly  (in  the  physical  world),  and  inwardly 
(in  the  spiritual  world),  in  endless  different  forms." 

"  At  the  bottom  of  this  all-pervading  law  there  must,  of 
necessity,  lie  an  all -working  unity,  conscious  of  its  existence,  and 
therefore  existing  eternally." 

"  This  unity  is  God." 

"  God  manifests  himself  as  life  in  nature,  in  the  universe  j 
as  love  in  humanity ;  and  as  light  (wisdom).    He  makes  himself 

known  to  the  soul As  life,  love,  and  light  does  the  nature 

of  man  also  manifest  itself." 

"  As  the  child  of  nature,  man  is  an  imprisoned,  fettered  being, 
without  self-mastery,  under  the  dominion  of  his  passions.  As 
the  child  of  God  he  becomes  a  free  agent,  destined  to  self-mas- 
tery, of  his  own  free  will  a  hearing,  conforming  spiritual  being. 
As  the  child  of  humanity,  he  is  a  being  struggling  out  of  his 
fettered  condition  into  freedom,  out  of  isolation  into  union, 
yearning  for  love  and  existing  to  find  it. 

"  The  unity  in  the  nature  of  all  things  is  the  in-dwelling  spirit 
of  their  Creator,  'the  mind  of  God,'  which  expresses  itself 
as  law."  ....  The  destiny  of  man  as  a  child  of  God  and  of 
nature  is  to  represent  the  being  of  God  and  of  nature  :  as  the 
destiny  of  a  child,  as  the  member  of  a  family,  is  to  represent  the 
nature  of  the  family,  its  mental  and  spiritual  capabilities,  sa 
the  vocation  of  man,  as  a  member  of  humanity,  is  to  represent 
and  to  cultivate  the  nature,  the  powers,  and  faculties  of 
humanity. 

Frobel  defines  life,  in  whatever  form  it  may  express  itself,  as 
progressive  development  from  lower  to  higher  grades,  from 
unconscious  existence  to  a  conscious  existence,  which  ascends 
higher  and  higher  till  it  reaches  the  consciousness  of  God. 

But  all  development  is  movement.     It  ascends  from  beneatk 


Probers  Method,  and  what  is  New  in  It.  91 


to  above,  from  lesser  to  greater,  from  tlie  germ  to  its  completion. 
It  is  also,  at  the  same  time,  a  constant  means  of  reconciliation 
of  opposites,  and  itself  a  product  of  that  universal  law,  which 
we  have  just  acknowledged  as  the  law  of  human  thought, 
the  law  of  moral  life,  and  the  law  of  the  physical  or  organic 
world. 

Movement,  whether  free  or  compulsory  movement,  which  has 
an  object,  is  activity. 

From  which  it  follows  that  the  law  of  the  reconciliation  of 
opposites  is  also  the  law  of  all  activity,  of  all  human  action,  and 
all  human  development  which  is  based  on  activity  and  is  the 
result  of  it. 

And  how  could  it  be  otherwise  ? 

Human  beings  belong,  on  their  physical  side  also,  to  nature  ; 
the  whole  process  of  their  physical  life  is  an  interchange  with 
the  products  of  nature ;  therefore  man,  as  a  physical  being,  is 
subject  to  the  laws  of  nature.  But  the  soul  is  inseparable  from 
the  body,  and  can  only  express  itself  and  act  through  the  bodily 
organs.  It  follows,  therefore,  that  the  soul  cannot  be  subject  to 
conditions  opposed  to  the  bodily  ones,  but  must  obey  laws 
analogous  to  those  which  govern  the  other  organisms  of  the 
universe,  though  of  a  higher  order  than  the  laws  of  unconscious 
life. 

Every  utterance  or  manifestation  of  the  human  spirit  necessi- 
tates action  of  the  senses  ;  and  we  know  that  such  action  is  based 
on  law,  and,  moreover,  on  the  same  law  which  governs  all  action 
in  the  universe  :  the  reconciliation,  connection,  or  adjustment  of 
opposites. 

If,  then,  the  full  development  of  human  nature  rests  on  this 
universal  law  of  activity  there  can  be  no  other  rule  for  the 
guidance  of  this  development  in  childhood  and  youth,  or,  in  one 
word,  for  education.  Nature  follows  this  law  in  her  dealings  with 
children,  and  if  education  is  to  be  in  accordance  with  nature  it 
must  do  the  same  ;  and  then  only,  when  this  fundamental  prin- 
ciple is  recognized  and  followed,  and  applied  in  the  development 
of  human  nature,  with  full  understanding  of  its  aim  and  object, 
will  education  be  raised  to  the  level  of  art  or  science. 

Frobel   is  the  first  person  who  has  hitherto  fully  recognized 


-^2  A  Neiu  Method  of  Education. 

> 

this  principle  and  rendered  its  application  possible,  and  his 
educational  method  is  nothing  more  or  less  than  constant 
obedience  to  it  at  every  stage  of  the  pupil's  developmo.t. 
Which  means  to  saj  that  all  the  free  spontaneous  activity  of 
children  is  systematically  regulated  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
whole  natural  world  unconsciously  is,  and  as  the  world  of 
human  nature  would  always  be  also  were  it  not  for  the  disturb- 
ing element  of  consciousness  which  awakens  the  personal  will, 
and  incites  it  to  arbitrary  action  (i.e.,  free  choice  without 
regard  to  right  or  wrong),  thus  coming  in  contact  with  the  laws 
of  nature  and  hindering  the  direct  accomplishment  of  her 
purpose. 

But  there  can  be  no  real  freedom  in  human  action,  unless  it 
follows  in  the  path,  recognizes  the  limits,  and  subjects  itself  to 
the  necessity  of  Law.  The  treatment  of  matter,  substances, 
the  physical  in  short,  which  is  the  point  of  departure  of  all 
human  thought  and  action,  can  only  accomplish  the  desired 
end  when  it  is  carried  on  according  to  systematic  rules.  Arbi- 
trary capricious  action  never  reaches  its  end,  or  only  by 
accident. 

Thus,  then,  Frobel's  system  consists  in  regulating  the  natural 
spontaneous  activity  of  the  child  according  to  its  own  inherent 
law,  in  order  that  the  purpose  of  nature,  the  complete  develop- 
ment of  all  the  natural  faculties,  may  be  fulfilled. 

This  system  aims  at  teaching  the  child  from  the  beginning  of 
its  existence  to  apply  for  itself  the  universal  principle  which 
we  have  been  considering. 

The  order  of  the  children's  performances  is  so  planned,  that 
the  application  of  this  principle  becomes  continually  wider, 
and  by  this  means  there  is  gradually  awakened  in  the  children 
the  consciousness  that  all  systematic  working  is  based  on  it. 

The  above  indications  will,  we  hope,  be  sufficient,  so  far,  to 
explain  Frobel's  theory  of  the  universe  as  is  necessary  to 
show  its  connection  with  his  system  of  education.  .  A  ful 
exposition  of  his  philosophy  is  not  contemplated  here. 

A  true  understanding  of  these  generalities  can  only  be 
arrived  at  through  their  practical  application,  and  the  know- 
ledge  of   their  results.     And   conversely  the  practical  appli- 


Probers  Method,  and  what  is  New  in  It,  93 

cation  only  gains  meaning  througL  knowledge  of  tlie  funda- 
mental idea. 

The  reason  why  Frobel  was  so  much  condemned  and  run 
down,  and  even  derided,  during  his  lifetime,  is  that  his  ideas, 
owing  to  their  novelty  and  apparent  opposition  to  old-estab- 
lished methods,  met,  of  necessity,  with  little  comprehension. 

Frohel's  philosophy  and  educational  theories  have  certainly 
their  "  mystic  "  side,  inasmuch  as  they  are  not  at  once  appre- 
hensible to  every  one,  and  in  their  entire  scope,  and  also  that 
much  cannot  yet  be  positively  proved.  Everything,  moreover, 
may  be  said  to  be  mystical  which  is  still  veiled  from  the 
understanding,  and,  therefore,  also  the  origin  and  growth  of 
every  blade  of  grass  is  mystical.  But  that  sort  of  mysticism 
which  upholds  what  is  unnatural,  believes  in  the  unsystematic, 
and  encourages  the  illogical,  Frobel's  philosophy  with  its  clear- 
ness, order  and  regularity,  is  distinctly  opposed  to.  Prophetic 
minds,  of  which  all  ages  can  boast  some,  see  much  that  is 
hidden  from  the  material  eye,  and  that  science  has  not  yet  dis- 
covered. The  general  apprehension  of  these  visions  is  reserved 
for  later  times. 

Those  to  whom  the  ideal  side  of  Frobel's  system  is  inac- 
cessible must  content  themselves  with  the  purely  practical  part 
of  it. 

Those  by  whom  the  deeper  foundations  of  the  matter  is 
acknowledged  and  accepted  need  not  fear  temporary  error, 
misunderstanding,  and  criticism.  They  can  well  afford  to 
leave  the  superficial  part,  possibly,  too,  here  and  there  the 
erroneous  part,  to  take  care  of  itself,  if  only  they  keep  firm 
hold  of  the  kernel  of  the  matter,  without  which  its  signification 
would  cease.  None  must  weary  in  their  endeavour  to  get  at 
this  kernel,  to  show  the  connection  that  exists  between  theory 
and  practice,  to  lay  bare  the  fundamental  thought  which 
inspires  the  whole.  The  smallest  efforts  in  this  direction  are 
not  useless :  and  in  this  spirit  we  trust  that  the  present  work- 
win  be  judged. 


94  ^  ^^"^  Method  of  Education. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE    KINDERGARTEN. 

**  Die  Kindheit  von  heute 
1st  die  Menschheit  von  morgen, 

*•  The  children  of  to-day 
Are  the  men  of  to-morrow." 

Prederic  Frobel  has  sncceeded  in  realizing  what  the  edn- 
vxjational  geniuses  who  preceded  him  only  strove  after.  But 
he  has  done  more  than  simply  embody  their  ideas  in  reality — 
whereas  they  concerned  themselves  only  with  methods  of 
-instruction^  he  has  given  to  the  world  a  true  and  complete 
method  of  education. 

Frobel  gives  to  children  experience  instead  of  instruction, 
he  puts  action  in  the  place  of  abstract  learning.  In  the  Kinder- 
garten the  child  finds  itself  surrounded  by  a  miniature  world 
adapted  to  its  requirements  at  different  stages  of  growth,  and 
through  action  in  which  it  can  develop  itself  according  to  the 
laws  of  its  nature. 

Let  us  first  glance  at  the  Kindergarten  from  outside,  as  it 
strikes  the  eye  of  the  casual  looker  on,  before  we  proceed  to  a 
comprehensive  summary  of  Frobel's  educational  system  as  a 
whole. 

The  pleasant  sound  of  children's  voices  singing  falls  on  the 
ear  of  the  visitor  as  he  enters  the  Kindergarten,  and  in  an  open- 
air  space*  shaded  with  trees  he  sees  a  ring  of  little  children 
from  two  to  four  or  five  years  old,  led  by  the  Kindergarten 
teacher,  and  moving  in  rhythmic  measures  round  one  of  their 
little  comrades  who  is  going  through  an  energetic  conrse  of 
gymnastic  exercises,  which  the  others  imitate  :  after  a  time  the 
jroung  instructor  is  relieved  by  another  of  the  children,  and  so 

*  In  winter  the  pIay«ground  is  a  large  heated  room. 


The  Kmdergarten,  95 


■on.  To  the  gymnastic  exercises  succeed  other  Bewegungs- 
spiele  (movement  games)  representing  incidents  of  husbandry 
and  harvesting ;  or  the  way  in  which  birds  build  their  nests  in 
woods,  fly  out  and  return  home  again,  or  phases  of  professional 
life,  scenes  from  the  market,  and  the  shop,  and  so  forth.  All 
the  games  are  accompanied  by  explanatory  songs. 

In  the  first  period  of  childhood  words  and  actions  must  always 
accompany  each  other  ;  the  child's  nature  requires  this.  Body 
a,nd  mind  must  not  yet  be  occupied  separately,  but  the  gym- 
nastics of  the  limbs  should  at  the  same  time  exercise  the  men- 
tal powers  and  dispositions.  Fi  obel's  "  movement-games  " 
develop  the  limbs  and  muscles,  while  the  accompanying  music 
works  on  the  feelings  and  imagination,  and  the  words  and  action 
rouse  the  mind  to  observation,  and  finally  the  will  to  imitation  of 
what  has  been  observed.  The  promotion  of  physical  health  and 
strength  is  the  main  object  of  education  in  the  Kindergarten. 

A  little  further  on  in  the  garden,  under  a  linen  awning,  will 
be  seen  three  tables  surrounded  by  benches  with  leaning  backs, 
«,t  each  of  which  are  seated  ten  children  from  four  to  seven 
years  of  age,  working  away  busily  and  attentively.  At  one  of 
the  tables  strips  of  different  coloured  papers,  straw  or  leather, 
are  being  plaited  into  all  sorts  of  pretty  patterns,  to  make 
letter-cases,  mats,  baskets,  boxes,  &c.  The  patterns  of  the 
elder  children  are  of  their  own  invention,  and  their  little  pro- 
ductions are  destined  for  presents  to  parents,  brothers  and 
sisters,  and  friends. 

At  the  second  table  building  with  cubes  has  been  going  on. 
Before  each  child  stands  an  architectural  structure  of  its  own 
planning,  and  all  are  listening  attentively  to  the  narrative  of 
the  teacher,  in  which  each  of  the  objects  built  up  is  made  to 
play  a  part. 

At  the  third  table  paper  is  being  folded  into  all  sorts  of  shapes, 
representing  tools  of  different  kinds,  or  flowers.  All  the  various 
forms  which  the  children  produce  are  arrived  at  by  gradual 
transitions  from  one  fundamental  mathematical  form,  and  thus 
the  elements  of  geometry  are  acquired  in  the  Kindergarten,  not 
through  abstract  instruction,  but  by  observation  and  original 
oonstruction. 


9^  A  New  Method  of  Education, 

In  playful  work  and  workful  play  tlie  child  finds  a  relief  fcr^ 
and  the  satisfaction  of,  his  active  impulses  and  receives  an 
elementary  grounding  for  all  later  work,  whether  artistic  or 
professional.  His  physical  senses  as  well  as  his  mental  faculties 
are  all  exercised  in  proportion  to  his  age. 

But  the  half -hour  is  at  an  end,  and  there  must  be  no  more 
sitting  still.  Spades,  rakes,  and  watering-pots  are  now  fetched 
out  to  work  in  the  flower-beds,  of  which  each  child  has  one  for 
its  own.  Flowers,  vegetables  and  fruits  are  cultivated  by  the 
children  in  these  little  patches  of  ground,  but  in  the  general 
garden,  which  is  the  common  charge  of  all  the  children,  are 
grown  all  sorts  of  corn,  field-products,  and  useful  plants,  and 
these  serve  as  materials  for  an  elementary  course  of  botanical 
observation  and  experiment,  when  the  children  cannot  be  taken 
into  the  open  fields  and  woods  to  study  nature  in  her  own 
workshops,  to  learn  singing  from  the  birds,  and  to  watch  the 
habits  of  the  insects.  In  this  garden,  too,  all  kinds  of  animals 
are  kept ;  chickens,  doves,  rabbits,  hares,  dogs,  goats,  and  birds 
in  cages,  which  have  to  be  looked  after  and  cared  for. 

Thus  the  child  grows  up  under  the  influences  of  nature.  He 
learns  gradually  to  perceive  the  regularity  of  all  organic  forma- 
tions ;  by  the  loving  care  which  he  is  encouraged  to  bestow  on 
animals  and  plants,  his  heart  and  sympathies  are  enlarged,  and 
he  becomes  capable  of  love  and  sympathy  for  his  fellow- 
creatures ;  and  in  imitating  the  works  of  nature  he  is  led  to 
discover  and  to  love  the  Creator  of  nature'  and  to  acknowledge 
Him  as  his  own  creator  also,  and  he  becomes  imbued  with 
the  divine  peace  of  nature  before  the  turmoil  of  the  world  and 
of  sin  find  their  way  into  his  heart. 

But  to  return  to  the  Kindergarten.  The  little  ones  whom  we 
first  saw  engaged  in  gymnastics  now  come  running  and  laugh- 
ing up  to  the  table  deserted  by  the  elder  children,  and  in  their 
turn  take  their  seats  for  half  an  hour's  work  (for  the  quite 
little  ones  the  time  is  limited  to  a  quarter  of  an  hour),  and 
begin  laying  together  and  interlacing  little  laths  or  sticks  in 
symmetrical  shapes.  "  Forms  of  beauty,"  or  systematic  con- 
structions without  any  special  object ;  "  forms  of  knowledge,**^ 
or  mathematical  figures ;    "  forms  of  practical  life "   or  tools,. 


The  Kindergarten.  97 


"buildings,  &c. ;  or  else  one  of  the  many  occupations  of  whicli  tlic 
results  may  be  seen  in  the  glass  cupboard  of  the  play-room,  is 
carried  on.  In  this  cupboard  are  a  variety  of  articles  modelled  in 
clay,  lace-like  arabesques  cut  out  of 'fine  white  paper  and  pasted 
on  blue  paper ;  ingenious  devices  of  plaited  straw,  riband,  and 
leather ;  all  manner  of  drawings  and  paintings,  too,  according 
to  Frobel's  new  linear  method  ;  artistic  little  houses,  churches, 
furniture,  &c.,  constructed  of  little  sticks  fastened  together  by 
means  of  moistened  peas,  into  which  the  ends  of  the  sticks  are 
stuck ;  in  short,  an  art  and  industrial  exhibition  of  the  works 
of  little  manufacturers,  under  eight  years  old. 

But  these  pretty  things  are  not  all  intended  for  birthday  or 
Christmas  presents  in  the  children's  families.  At  the  end  of 
the  year  most  of  them  are  put  into  a  lottery  through  which  each 
of  the  children  receives  a  little  sum  of  money  for  its  own  work, 
and  the  joint  proceeds  are  spent  in  dressing  a  Christmas-tree 
for  the  poor  children  of  the  neighbourhood,  and  the  pleasure 
which  the  little  donors  derive  from  this  tree  is  far  greater  than 
that  which  their  own  more  costly  one  affords  them. 

By  the  side  of  the  glass  cupboard,  in  which  the  children's 
productions  are  kept,  stands  another  containing  dried  plants, 
mosses,  insects,  shells,  stones,  crystals,  and  other  wonders  of 
nature,  which  have  either  been  collected  on  different  excursions, 
or  are  presents  from  relations  and  friends.  This  is  the  children's 
m^useum,  and  into  it  the  little  collectors  often  carry  the 
commonest  stones  and  weeds,  for  to  children  everything  thai 
they  notice  for  the  first  time  seems  wonderful. 

Work,  which  is  at  the  same  time  fulfilment  of  duty,  is  the 
only  true  basis  of  moral  culture,  but  it  is  necessary  that  such 
work  should  also  satisfy  the  child's  instinct  of  love,  and  the 
object  of  it  must,  therefore,  be  to  give  pleasure  to  others.  With 
this  end  in  view  difficulties  will  be  overcome  with  courage  and 
cheerfulness,  and  the  only  effectual  barrier  will  thus  be  opposed 
to  selfishness.  Only  let  children's  earliest  work  and  duties  be 
made  easy  to  them  and  they  will  infallibly  learn  to  love  them, 
and  in  later  years  they  will  not  shrink  from  the  sacrifices 
demanded  by  love.  A  true  system  of  national  education,  such 
as  the  reforms  of  modem  times  render  necessary,  can  only  be 

H 


98  A  New  Method  of  Education. 


established  by  making  work,  sucb  work  as  shall  connect  artistic 
dexterity  with  the  cultivation  of  intelligence,  the  basis  of  edu- 
cation. The  Kindergarten  meets  this  want  during  the  period 
of  early  childhood ;  the  Jucjend,  or  Schulgarten'^  (Youth,  or 
school-garden)  with  workshop,  studio,  camp,  gymnastics,  &c., 
must  carry  on  the  work  afterwards  on  the  same  foundation. 

And  now  the  working  hours  are  ended,  and  a  choral  melody 
resounds  in  our  Kindergarten.  The  little  ones  with  their  teacher 
and  her  assistants}  form  into  a  circle  and  sing  with  childish 
reverence  a  short  song,  the  words  of  which  express  gratitude  to 
God  for  the  blessings  enjoyed,  and  a  promise  to  live  according 
to  His  will  and  that  of  their  parents.  The  Kindergarten  always 
opens  and  closes  in  this  way  with  religious  worship. 

The  work  of  religious  development  must  begin  by  directing 
the  child's  imagination  towards  higher  things,  and  there  is  no 
better  means  to  this  end  than  sacred  song  which  arouses  the 
devotional  instincts.  The  influence  of  nature,  in  which  thu 
spirit  of  God  breathes,  combines  with  the  sacred  melodies  to 
awaken  in  the  mind  its  first  dim  perception  of  the  organic 
connection  of  the  universe,  which  has  its  ultimate  origin  in 
God. 

Through  association  with  its  fellows,  i.e.,  with  other  children 
of  its  own  age,  the  child  learns  to  love  beyond  the  narrow  range 
of  self ;  and  the  love  of  human  beings  leads  to  the  love  of  God. 
Meligion  means  binding  together,  union  (between  God  and  man) 
and  without  loving  fellowship  religion  cannot  exist.  Frobel 
defines  religion  as  "  union  with  God,"  which  can  only  grow  out 
of  union  with  mankind,  or  the  love  of  human  beings  for  one 
another. 

To  the  above  influence  is  added  religious  narrative,  which  in 
the  case  of  the  younger  children  is  connected  with  facts  ex- 
perienced by  themselves,  and  for  the  elder  ones  refers  to  Bible 
history. 

Four  hours  of  the  day  thus  pass  quickly  by  for  the  little 

*  5€«'*Die  Arbeit  und  die  neue  Erziehung."  Second  edition,  published  bj 
G.  Wigand  of  Kasset. 

f  Young  girls  who  help  in  the  work  of  teaching,  and  are  thus  trained  to  he 
themselves  Kindergarten  teachers. 


The  Kindergarten.  99 


people,  and  then  they  hurry  off  to  join  the  fathers,  mothers,  or 
nurses,  who  have  come  to  fetch  them,  delighted  at  seeing  them 
again,  and  eager  to  tell  of  all  the  pleasures  and  labours  of  the 
day,  and  to  carry  on  by  themselves  at  home  the  arts  they  have 
learnt — and  there  is  never  any  room  for  the  disagreeable  guest, 
ennui. 

Such  is  more  or  less  what  the  visitor  to  a  Kindergarten  will 
see  going  on,  and  he  will  very  likely  think  to  himself,  "  This  is 
all  very  nice  and  delightful,  the  children  must  certainly  flourish 
better  here,  both  physically  and  mentally,  than  in  the  close 
atmosphere  of  rooms,  under  the  supervision  of  nurses  and 
nursemaids  (by  whom  the  mother  must  at  any  rate  be  relieved 
during  some  hours  of  the  day),  or  else  left  entirely  without 
supervision.  It  is  also  better  than  the  formal  out-door  walks 
in  which  children  are  generally  led  stiffly  by  the  hand,  instead  of 
being  allowed  to  run  and  jump  about  freely.  Certainly  these 
Kfeidergartens  must  be  a  great  benefit  to  children,  but  do  they 
deserve  all  the  fuss  that  is  made  about  them,  all  the  expecta- 
tions founded  on  them  ?  And,  even  if  a  salutary  reform  has  been 
effected  in  school  education  during  its  earliest  stages,  what 
has  been  done  for  the  improvement  of  education  in  the  home, 
which  must  always  form  the  starting  point,  the  kernel,  of  all 
human  culture  ? 

No,  the  Kindergarten  is  not  all  that  is  wanted,  and  Frobel 
has  not  forgotten  the  important  share  which  a  family,  above 
all  the  mother,  has  in  the  work  of  education.  The  cultivation 
of  the  female  sex,  through  which  the  spiritual  mother  of 
humanity,  its  educator  in  the  highest  sense  of  the  word,  is  to 
be  realized,  is  essentially  the  starting-point  of  his  educational 
method.  The  Kindergarten  begins  on  the  mother's  lap.  It  is 
to  the  mother  that  Frobel  presents  his  "  play-gifts ;  "  on  her 
preparatory  training  does  the  efficacy  of  the  system  depend  ;  by 
her  frequent  presence  at  the  Kindergarten  it  is  hoped  that  she 
will  take  a  personal  part  in  the  proceedings,  and  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  day,  when  the  child  falls  to  her  charge,  she 
can  herself  guide  its  occupations  on  the  same  plan.  All 
mothers  will  one  day,  we  hope,  be  equal  to  this  task.  We  look 
iorward  to  a  time  when  Frobel's  method  shall  be  taught  in  ,all 

H  2 


lOO  A  New  Method  of  Education. 


girls'  schools,  and  when  it  will  have  become  universally  acknow- 
ledged that  all  who  have  to  do  with  children,  fathers  and 
mothers,  nurses  and  governesses,  should  be  versed  in  the  science 
of  education,  in  order  that  they  may  be  able  to  satisfy  the 
higher  demands  of  the  present  stage  of  human  culture. 

Frobel's  general  principles  of  education  may  be  summed  up 
under  the  three  following  heads  :  "  freedom  for  development,'* 
"  work  for  development,"  and  "  unity  of  development." 

1.  In  nature,  where  everything  works  freely,  unrestrainedly, 
and  un artificially,  there  is  scope  ior  freedom  of  development.  Free- 
dom of  growth  among  plants  is  only  possible  where  this  syste- 
matic development  is  not  disturbed,  and  the  necessary  condi- 
tions of  their  growth  are  attended  to.  If  they  are  to  attain  to 
full  development,  they  must  have  proper  care  and  attention. 
Plants  shut  up  in  dark  cellars  degenerate  and  die,  and  human 
nature,  which  lacks  care  and  attention,  especially  in  its  earliest 
stages,  degenerates  and  dies  also.  Children,  if  brought  up 
among  the  wild  animals  of  a  forest,  would  become  themselves 
almost  animals,  and  bear  scarcely  any  resemblance  to  human 
beings.  It  is  only  by  applying  the  eternal  principles  of  all 
organic  development  in  the  higher  scale  of  human  nature, 
that  the  clue  will  be  found  to  fi'eedom  of  development  in  the 
human  being,  as  Frobel  understands  it.  Only  there,  where 
order  and  morality  reign,  where  love  and  discipline  are  the 
guiding  powers,  can  there  be  any  question  of  freedom  of 
development  for  the  human  soul.  A  wild  up-shooting  of 
untrained  natural  forces,  the  unfolding  of  the  young  human 
plant  given  over  to  chance,  these  are  the  very  opposites  of  free 
development.  Whatever  also  is  contrary  to  Nature's  iaws  for 
man  hinders  his  development.  His  destiny,  which  is  to 
become  a  morally  reasonable  being,  makes  a  morally  reasonable 
education  indispensable.  Development  is  emancipation  :  eman- 
cipation from  the  bands  of  rude  unspiritualized  matter ;  eman- 
cipation of  the  limbs  and  senses,  of  all  the  mental  powers  and 
faculties — this  it  is  that  makes  freedom  But  freedom  of 
development  is  not  sufficient  without  exercises  for  deveiop- 
ment. 

2.  Frobel  says:    "Man  is  destined   to  nse  out  oi   himself 


The  Kindergarten.  10 1 


by  means  of  his  own  activity,  to  attain  to  a  continually  higher 
stage  of  self-knowledge."  Thus  it  is  only  through  its  own 
exertions,  its  own  work,  through  personal  action,  that  the  child 
can  so  develop  itself,  in  accordance  with  its  human  nature,  as  to 
realize  its  true  self,  to  express,  as  it  were,  the  thought  of  God 
which  dwells  in  every  being.  According  to  Frobel,  man  is 
bom  into  the  world  more  weak  and  helpless  than  any  animal, 
in  order  that,  by  the  resistance  which  the  things  of  the  outward 
world  oppose  to  his  weakness,  he  may  be  incited  to  the  exer- 
tion of  inward  strength.  A  child  cannot  learn  to  walk  without 
trouble  and  effort ;  and  it  is  only  after  thousands  ot  times 
repeated  attempts  that  it  learns  to  make  itself  understood,  that 
is  to  say,  to  talk. 

But  if  the  child's  efforts  and  exertions  be  left  to  themselves, 
they  will  fall  very  far  short  of  their  natural  end,  and,  therefore, 
education  must  come  to  their  assistance  and  guidance,  and 
establish  discipline  and  control  where  otherwise  caprice  would 
step  in,  and  confusion  of  ungoverned  forces  reign.  There  is, 
however,  a  kind  of  discipline  which  is  contrary  to  nature,  as 
well  as  one  in  accordance  with  it,  and  this  unnatural  discipline 
leads  to  artificiality,  and  the  suppression  of  individual  pei'son- 
ality,  which,  indeed,  it  rather  aims  at  doing  away  with  and 
replacing  by  something  conventional. 

What  may  be  called  new  in  Frobel's  Kindergarten  plan  is  the 
practical  means  which  he  has  discovered  and  applied  for 
disciplining  and  developing  body,  soul,  and  mind,  will,  feelings, 
and  understanding,  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  Nature.  All 
the  materials  which  he  sets  before  children,  all  their  playthings, 
are  so  contrived  as  to  meet  their  innate  impulse  to  activity, 
and  that  in  a  rightly  ordered  sequence  corresponding  to  e\  ery 
stage  of  the  soul's  progressive  development.  The  child  is  thus 
led  on  by  easy  simple  stages  to  modelling,  production,  and 
creation.  Only  by  original  creation  can  it  fully  express  its 
inner  self,  its  individual  being ;  and  this  it  must  do  if  it  is  to 
attain  to  worthy  existence. 

Action,  i.e.,  the  application  of  knowledge,  the  carrying  out 
of  ideas,  is  what  our  age  calls  for  more  and  more  loudly,  and 
what  the  young  generation  must  be  trained  for ;  and  in  view 


102  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

of  this  Frobel  would  have  children  learn  even  in  their  earliest 
games  to  act  and  to  create ;  he  would  have  work  and  action 
precede  abstract  study,  and  be  made  the  means  and  educator  to 
prepare  for  the  later  acquisition  of  knowledge.  In  order  to 
produce  strength  and  greatness  of  character  (and  what  is  more 
needed  at  the  present  time  ?),  it  is  necessary  to  awaken  will 
and  energy,  resolution  and  a  sense  of  duty ;  this  is  done  in  the 
Kindergarten  by  means  of  personal  activity  in  an  atmosphere 
of  happiness  and  contentment.  To  train  pupils  in  the  great 
workshops  of  the  Creator  to  be  themselves  one  day  creators,  to 
bring  human  beings  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  likeness  of  God, 
this  is  the  purpose  of  the  "  Development  exercises,"  which  are 
carried  on  in  the  Kindergarten. 

3.  All  organic  development  is  continuous,  unbroken,  and^ 
progressing  from  stage  to  stage,  forms  a  closely  interconnected 
whole.  In  Nature  this  continuity,  or  connectedness,  exists 
unconsciously,  but  in  the  world  of  human  life  it  must  be  the 
result  of  deliberate  conscious  volition,  and  must  lead  up  to  the 
apprehension  of  the  highest  cosmic  unity,  i.e.,  to  the  knowledge 
of  God. 

Education  to  be  worthy  of  a  human  being  must,  therefore,  be 
continuous,  must  proceed  upon  the  same  plan  from  the  begin- 
ning, though  in  a  progressive  sequence,  according  to  the  natural 
stages  of  development.  The  first  playthings  must  stand  in  pro- 
per social  relation  to  the  last,  the  first  elementary  lessons  must 
be  in  connection  with  the  topmost  pinnacle  of  later  knowledge  ; 
the  moral  culture  especially  depends  on  harmony  in  the  whole 
treatment  of  the  child.  Human  existence  begins  in  uncon- 
sciousness, and  has  to  pass  through  all  the  successive  stages  of 
growing  consciousness,  until  it  reaches  complete  self-knowledge. 
Frobel  says  :  "  The  clearer  the  thread  which  runs  through  our 
lives  backwards — back  to  our  childhood — the  clearer  will  be 
our  onward  glance  to  the  goal." 

Such  continuity  in  education  is  as  yet  nowhere  aimed  at  • 
fathers  and  mothers,  nurses  and  governesses,  servants  and 
friends,  all  influence  the  child  in  different,  too  often  in  quite 
opposite,  directions.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  transition  in 
education — no  point  of    connection  between   the   first  period 


The  Kindergarten.  103 


which  is  the  sport  of  caprice  and  chance,  and  the  following 
^esson — and  school-time,  between  the  first  years  of  mere  idle 
amusement,  and  the  beginnings  of  practical  activity  and 
f»xercise  of  duty  :  nowhere,  in  short,  is  continuity  in  the  lessons, 
occupations,  and  lives  of  children  so  much  as  thought  of. 

The  relations  of  the  human  being  to  the  surrounding  world, 
iso  Nature  and  his  fellow-creatures — with  which  latter  relations 
is  bound  up  the  highest  of  all,  that  of  the  creature  to  its  Creator 
— begin  with  his  birth.  The  most  important  relation  at  the 
commencement  of  life  is  that  between  child  and  mother,  and  it 
is  in  the  mother's  hand  accordingly  that  Frobel  places  the  first 
end  of  the  Ariadne  thread,  which  is  to  lead  the  child  through 
the  labyrinth  of  life.  The  mother's  play  and  caresses  (see 
Frobel's  "  Mutter  u.  Koselieder  ")  form  the  first  foundation  on 
V.  hich  the  Kindergarten,  and  the  after- training  of  school  and 
life,  are  built  up.  The  logical  continuity,  the  strict  order  of 
sequence  in  its  games  and  occupations,  which  hang  together 
like  the  links  of  a  chain,  so  that  the  one  always  prepares  for  the 
other;  the  unbroken  series  of  transitions;  the  close  connec- 
tion between  childish  conceptions  and  ideas  and  their  realiza- 
tion— all  this  can  only  be  fully  appreciated  after  a  close  study 
of  the  details,  both  theoretical  and  practical,  of  Frobel's 
system.  But  no  one,  having  once  made  the  study,  can  doubt 
that  the  complete  and  universal  carrying  out  of  the  Kinder- 
garten theory,  the  first,  though  imperfect,  steps  towards  which 
have  already  been  taken  in  many  countries  of  Europe,  and  in 
the  United  States  of  America,  would  contribute  enormously 
towards  the  production  of  men  and  women  whose  lives,  actions, 
and  thoughts  shall  make  up  a  complete  whole,  whose  person- 
ality and  individual  characteristics  shall  stand  out  strongly, 
and  who  shall  have  the  courage  to  be  always  themselves,  and 
not  to  lower  themselves  to  the  condition  of  conventional 
puppets. 

It  is  only  a  more  harmonious  development  of  the  special 
characteristics  of  individuals  that  can  lead  to  the  concord  and 
unity  of  masses,  whether  of  families,  communities,  or  nations, 
and  thence  to  the  unity  of  mankind — the  goal  towards  which 
the  strongest  impulse  of  our  age  is  tending,  and  the  next  step 


104  -^  iV<?z£/  Method  of  Education. 

to  whicli  is  union  with  God.  Frobel  sums  up  the  various 
syntheses  which  humanity  has  to  work  out  under  the  title  of 
Lehenseinigung  (unity  of  life),  and  calls  to  his  contercporaries 
to  work  in  the  field  of  education  towards  the  fulfilment  of 
this  idea  with  the  motto  : 

"  Komint,  lasst  uns  den  Kinflem  leben  I'* 
"  Come,  let  us  live  for  our  children." 

In  his  book  for  mothers  he  says  : 

**  Parents,  let  >our  home  a  chLlilren's  garden  be, 
Where  with  watchful  love  the  youug  plant's  growth  you  see  i 
A  shelter  let  it  be  to  them  from  all 
The  dangers  which  their  bodies  may  befall  ; 
And  still  more  a  soil  in  which  will  grow, 
The  inward  forces  that  from  God  do  flow  ; 
Which  with  a  father's  love  He  unto  men  has  given, 
That  by  their  use  they  may  upraise  themselves  to  Heaven." 

Note, — It  is  not  difficult  to  see  why  the  hitherto  imperfect  organization  of  exist- 
ing Kindergartens  is  only  now  beginning  to  approximate  to  something  correspond- 
ing to  the  original  idea.  The  greatest  obstacle  to  the  perfect  realization  of  this 
idea  (especially  as  regards  national  Kindergartens)  arises  from  the  insufficient 
means  of  localization  and  the  scarcity  of  teachers,  which  necessitate  taking  in  too 
many  children  at  a  time.  The  crowding  together  of  herds  of  children,  which 
must  result  in  confusion,  and  prevent  the  teacher  from  giving  sufficient  individual 
attention  to  her  pupils,  is  by  no  means  what  Frobel  contemplated.  He  wished 
the  number  of  children  in  national  Kindergartens  to  be  limited  to  thirty,  or  at 
the  outside  forty  ;  or  else  a  larger  number  to  be  broken  up  into  groups  of  thirty, 
under  one  teacher.  This,  as  well  as  many  other  points,  which  have  hitherto 
been  overlooked,  will  meet  with  proper  consideration,  as  the  matter  becomes 
more  fully  understood,  and  its  development  progresses.  At  present  the  chief 
thing  t'»  He  considered,  is  how  to  make  the  establishment  of  Kindergartens  as 
general  as  possible. 


CHAPTER  VITI. 

feobel's  "mutter  und  kose 

Trobel  himself  says  of  this  book  :  "  I  have  here  laid  down  the 
most  important  part  of  my  educational  method ;  this  book  is 
the  starting  point  of  a  natural  system  of  education  for  the 
first  years  of  life,  for  it  teaches  the  way  in  which  the  germs  of 
human  dispositions  must  be  nourished  and  fostered,  if  they  are 
to  attain  complete  and  healthy  development." 

But  over  and  over  again  we  hear  people  exclaim  after  a 
superficial  glance  through  the  book  :  "  What  wretched  poetry, 
what  lame  rhymes,  what  unintelligible  illustrations,  and,  above 
all,  what  absurdity  !  the  idea  of  wanting  to  regulate  and  con- 
trol a  mother's  caressing  and  fondling  of  her  child !"  &c. 

And  such  a  judgment  would  not  be  incorrect  as  far  as  the 
many  imperfect  verses  and  the  style  of  the  book  generally  is 
concerned.  But  at  the  same  time  many  successful  rhymes,  and 
much  true  poetry  will  be  found  side  by  side  with  the  philo- 
sophic thoughts  thus  embodied  in  the  form  of  verse:  and  what 
is  of  greater  importance,  there  is  a  fund  of  childlike  sim- 
plicity and  naivete  which  seems  to  come  straight  from  the 
child's  soul,  and  must  meet  with  response  there.  But  above  all 
it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  mottoes  contained  in  this  book 
are  intended  for  grown-up  people,  i.e.  for  mothers,  and  only 
the  songs  for  children — and  of  these  the  greater  number  are 
fully  adapted  to  infant  comprehension. 

Notwithstanding,  however,  that  the  form  of  the  book  is  quite 
a  secondary  consideration,  it  is  capable  of  being  improved 
when  its  substance  has  come  to  be  understood.  And  this  sub- 
stance is  not  only  new  and  important,  but  it  is  in  the  highest 
•degree  the  production  of   genius.     It   reveals   the  process  of 


io6  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

development  of  the  inner,  instinctive  life  of  childhood,  and  con- 
verts the  intuitive,  purposeless  action  of  mothers  into  an  intelli- 
gent plan,  in  a  way  which  has  never  before  been  even  attempted. 
The  key-  note  of  the  book  is  the  analogy  between  the  develop- 
ment of  humanity  from  its  earliest  infancy,  and  that  of  the^ 
individual.  The  fact  that  the  germs  of  all  human  faculties  and 
dispositions,  as  they  show  themselves  in  the  life  of  humanity, 
in  its  passions,  its  efforts  after  culture,  its  whole  manner  of 
existence,  are  traceable  in  the  nature  of  children  as  manifested 
in  their  instinctive  utterances,  this  fact,  I  say,  must  be  taken 
into  account,  in  order  that  the  games  of  children  may  be  turned 
to  their  natural  purpose,  viz.,  the  assistance  of  the  child's 
development. 

So  long  as  the  analogy  between  the  course  of  the  develop- 
ment of  humanity  and  that  of  individual  man  is  only  recognized 
outwardly,  and  treated  more  or  less  as  a  fact  in  science,  so  long 
will  little  practical  use  be  made  of  it.  But  it  acquires  an  im- 
mense degree  of  importance,  when  once  it  is  made  the  means  of 
supplying  education  with  an  infallible  guide,  childhood  with  a 
regulator  for  its  blind  impulses,  its  uncertain  groping  and  fum- 
bling, and  the  maternal  instinct  with  a  safe  channel  to  flow  in. 

The  practical  hints  contained  in  this  book  of  Frobel's  consist, 
it  is  true,  of  mere  disconnected  fragments,  too  often  couched  in 
obscure  language.  But  experience  proves  that  the  mother's 
instinct  is  equal  to  the  task  of  piecing  the  fragments  together 
and  rightly  applying  them. 

All  ideas  assume  at  starting  a  crude,  unbeautiful  shape,  which 
for  a  time  serves  rather  to  hide  and  disfigure  the  inner  meaning; 
but  when  this  meaning  has  at  last  made  itself  felt,  the  outward 
form  becomes  gradually  remodelled  and  brought  into  accordance 
with  it.  And  so  it  has  been  with  the  play  of  children.  Its 
high  significance  had  first  to  be  discovered  and  made  known 
before  it  could  be  embodied  in  a  form  corresponding  to  its  ob- 
ject and  to  the  degree  of  culture  reached  by  civilized  humanity. 

And  even  Frobel  in  the  book  in  question  has  only  taken  the 
first  step  towards  the  attainment  of  this  purpose,  has  done  no 
more  than  point  out  in  what  manner  it  is  possible.  The  filling 
up  of  gaps  in   the  system,  greater  perfection  of  arrangement, 


Probers  ''Mutter  tend  Koselieder."  107 

and  improvement  in  the  ontward  form  will  not  be  difficult  when, 
throngh  more  universal  practical  application,  Frobel's  great  edu- 
cational theory  meets  with  more  and  more  thorough  under- 
s^d^^'^jdiug.  Genius  has  but  to  give  utterance  to  its  thoughts,  and 
they  will  in  due  time  become  embodied  in  appropriate  forms. 

Frobel  rightly  calls  this  book  a  family  book,  for  only  by  its 
ase  in  the  family,  in  the  hands  of  mothers,  can  it  f  alfil  its  pur- 
pose, and  contribute  towards  raising  the  family  to  a  level  of 
human  culture  corresponding  to  the  advanced  civilization  of  the 
day,  and  preparing  mothers  for  their  vocation  in  the  highest  sense. 

Fiobel  made  his  "  Mutter  u.  Koselieder  "  the  foundation  of 
his  lectures  to  Kindergarten  teachers  on  his  theory,  and  over 
and  over  again  repeated  :  "I  have  here  laid  down  the  funda- 
mental ideas  of  my  educational  theory ;  whoever  has  grasped 
the  pivot  idea  of  this  book  understands  what  I  am  aiming  at. 
But  how  many  do  understand  it  ?  Learned  men  have  too 
great  a  contempt  for  the  book  to  give  it  more  than  cursory  at- 
tention ;  and  the  majority  of  mothers  only  see  in  it  an  ordinary 
picture-book  with  little  songs.  No  doubt  there  are  finer  pic- 
tures and  better  verses  to  be  had  than  mine,  but  of  what  use 
are  they  if  wanting  in  any  educational  power  ?  Only  a  small 
minority  of  people  get  from  my  book  a  real  understanding 
of  my  educational  theory  in  all  its  fulness,  but,  if  only  mothers 
and  teachers  would  follow  its  guidance  they  would  at  last  see, 
in  spite  of  all  opposition,  that  I  am  right." 

I  once  replied  to  a  similar  outburst :  "  It  is  not  always  easy  to 
trace  the  connection  between  the  examples  you  give  and  the 
idea  you  wish  to  illustrate  :  many  of  these  are  of  such  a  kind 
that  one  must  search  long  before  one  sees  the  reason  of  their 
being  cited,  and  those  who  do  not  take  this  trouble  will  never 
find  it  out.  This  is  the  reason  why  so  many  people  reject 
great  part  of  the  substance  of  the  book :  they  say  it  is 
so  far-fetched,  so  unnatural,  it  is  thought  out  artificially 
instead  of  being  taken  from  observation  of  child-nature.  You 
yourself  have  had  experience  of  such  objections,  and  so  have 
I  in  the  course  of  my  exposition  of  the  system.  If  you 
would  only  draw  the  conclusions  of  your  ideas  yourself  and 
collect   them  together  in  a  commentary  they  would  be  much 


io8  A  New  Method  of  Edi'^.u.^.x. 


easier  to  understand,  and  tlie  book  wliich  you  o'^nsider  of  so 
great  importance  would  at  least  be  recognized  by  -^lie  thinking 
world." 

To  wliich  Fiobel  answered:  "You  do  not  know  what  you 
are  asking  :  I  should  then  be  obliged  to  say  everything,  and  I 
should  be  still  less  understood.  None  but  the  children  who  are 
brought  up  in  Kindergartens  will  ever  understand  my  philo- 
sophy in  its  breadth  and  depth.  Let  the  world  laugh  at  me  now 
as  much  as  it  likes  for  my  ordering  and  arranging  of  children's 
play,  it  will  one  day  acknowledge  that  I  am  right,  for  the  chil- 
dren will  understand  me  and  know  that  I  understood  them  and 
fathomed  the  depths  of  their  nature.  If  you  are  not  afraid  of 
being  laughed  at  with  me,  do  you  write  what  you  think  is 
desirable  for  a  better  understanding  of  the  system  :  I  am  only 
too  willing  that  you  should." 

It  was  Frobel's  misfortune  that  he  had  not  the  gift  of  ex- 
pressing himself  clearly  and  attractively  in  words ;  indeed,  it 
was  a  long  time  before  he  even  realized  that  this  was  necessary, 
and  that  the  concrete  practical  form  in  which  he  had  so  com- 
pletely embodied  his  educational  ideas,  and  which  was  to  him 
the  most  natural  form  of  expression,  was  not  universally  intel- 
ligible. Had  it  not  been  for  the  repeated  experience  that  his 
:  system  was  not  understood  by  the  general  public,  or  even  by  the 
thinking  world,  he  would,  perhaps,  never  have  attempted  to 
translate  his  practical  language  into  words.  That  neither  his 
written  nor  his  spoken  explanations  contributed  to  make 
Kindergartens  more  popular  must  be  attributed  to  this  want 
in  his  own  nature,  and  not  to  any  fault  in  his  method  of  educa- 
tion. 

The  following  very  imperfect  attempt  to  throw  some  light  on 
the  contents  of  "  Mutter  u.  Koselieder  "  would  have  been  given 
to  the  public  sooner,  but  for  the  repeated  experience  that  in  no 
way  is  so  much  opposition  to  Frobel's  system  excited,  as  by  any 
endeavour  to  propagate  this  book.  Yet,  at  the  same  time,  there 
is  no  book  that  gives  more  pleasure,  to  mothers  especially,  than 
this  one.  It  will  not  be  unprofitable  to  communicate  my  ex- 
periences on  this  point. 

In  all  the  towns  of  difiPerent  countries  in  which  I  delivered 


FrbheVs  ^'Mutter  7ind  Koseliederr  109 

lectures  on  Frobel's  system  (which  lectures  were  almost  always 
followed  by  the  introduction  of  the  system),  in  Paris,  Brussels, 
London.  Geneva,  Lausanne,  Neuchatel,  Amsterdam,  the  Hague, 
Rotterdam,  &c.,  as  also  in  many  German  towns,  I  found  pretty 
generally  that  the  ideas  most  difficult  to  make  intelligible, 
both  to  the  learned  and  the  unlearned,  both  to  men  and  w^omen, 
were  the  following  : — 

1.  That  the  first  mental  development  of  the  child  goes  on  in 
its  play,  and  that  this  play  needs,  consequently,  to  be  as  much 
systematized  as  the  instruction  imparted  at  a  later  age. 

2.  That  by  rightly  meeting  and  assisting  the  natural  force 
which  vents  itself  in  play,  or  by  faulty  and  mistaken  treatment 
of  it,  it  may  be  directed  either  to  good — i.e.,  to  its  true  use — 
or  to  evil — i.e.,  its  abuse  ;  and 

3.  That  the  examples  given  in  the  "  Mutter  und  Koselieder  **^ 
are  psychologically  based  on  the  instinctive  life  of  the  child, 
even  though  they  are  not  always  expressed  in  the  most  perfect 
form. 

Many  profound  thinkers,  as  well  among  psychologists  as 
natural  philosophers,  were  beyond  measure  astonished  at  Frobel's 
theory,  and  gave  their  hearty  agreement  to  it.  Women  of 
simple  minds,  but  true  motherly  hearts,  added  their  approval 
with  tears  in  their  eyes.  They  were  struck  by  so  much  truth 
as  "by  lightning,"  as  one  of  them  expressed  it,  and  they  felt 
the  force  of  the  book  without  yet  thoroughly  understanding  it. 
Indeed,  the  contents  of  this  book  never  failed  to  touch  the 
hearts  of  mothers.  It  was  only  dry  intellectual  natures  that 
exercised  their  powers  of  criticism  on  it  without  ever  grasping 
its  spirit. 

And  such  criticism,  we  muLt  own,  is  not  unfair  as  regards 
the  choice  of  many  of  the  examples.  But  these  examples 
must  nevertheless  be  retained  until  a  complete  understanding 
of  the  theory  shall  make  a  new  and  faultless  selection  pos- 
sible. 

The  nature  of  babies  and  young  children  is  still  much  less 
considered  by  scientific  observers  than  is  that  of  plants  and 
animals,  'and  there  is  consequently  in  this  field  an  infinite 
number  of  discoveries  and  experiences  to  be  collected  together,,' 


no  A  New  Method  of  Education. 


which  in  their  importance  for  the  well-being  of  human  society 
are  second  to  no  science  whatever.  What  Rousseau,  Pesta- 
lozzi,  Jean  Paul,  Burdach,  Schleiermacher,  and  others  have 
effected  in  this  direction  is  still  very  little  compared  with  what 
has  yet  to  be  done  in  order  that  education  may  really  bear  good 
fruit,  and  the  secret  workings  of  the  child's  mind  and  spirit 
be  fully  revealed.  The  side  of  the  question  which  Frobel 
specially  illustrated,  and  for  which  he  devised  his  practical 
method  of  application  had,  before  his  time,  been  almost  wholly 
neglected.  It  is  true  that  he  was  generally  in  agreement  with 
Burdach's  theories  concerning  the  meaning  of  the  first  utter- 
ances of  children,  and  when  reading  his  works  in  the  company 
of  friends  his  face  would  beam  with  pleasure  when  he  came  to 
a  passage  that  specially  pleased  him,  and  he  would  exclaim, — 
**  See,  I  am  right  after  all ;  he  has  found  it  out  too  !  "  But  at 
the  same  time  he  was  fully  aware  that  in  his  fundamental  idea 
he  had  discovered  a  new  point  of  departure  which  had  been 
overlooked  by  all  his  predecessors. 

However  much  or  little  the  nature  of  children  may  have 
been  studied,  no  one  has  come  up  to  Frobel  in  his  searching 
analysis  of  every  phase  and  detail  of  their  development.  Fol- 
lowing the  example  of  modem  natural  science,  which  has  de- 
scended from  the  study  of  the  greatest  phenomena  to  that  of 
the  least,  and  is  making  its  most  important  discoveries  through 
microscopic  investigations,  Frobel,  in  the  field  of  human  nature, 

-goes  back  to  the  smallest  beginnings,  and  finds  thus  the  first 
link  in  the  chain  which  connects  one  moment  of  human  de- 
velopment with  all  the  others.  He  finds  the  law  which  lies  at 
the  bottom  of  all  systematic  development,  and  discovers  the 
means  for  the  application  of  this  law.     In  the  growth  of  the 

-child  he  sees  the  same  system  of  law  as  in  organic  growth 
generally,  and  he  points  out  the  complete  analogy  between  the 
development  of  the  child  and  that  of  the  organisms  of  Nature 
and  of  humanity  as  an  organic  whole, 

A  new  basis  has  thus  been  given  to  education,  and  it  remains 
for  us  to  build  up  upon  it.  But  w<5  must  be  content  to  wait 
patiently.  Frobel's  philosophy  will  share  the  fate  of  all  other 
great  truths,  which  come  into  the  world  as  the  hypotheses  of 


Probers  "Mutter  tmd  Koseliederr  m 

single  individnals,  and  have  to  bide  their  time  until  by  slow- 
degrees  their  importance  has  become  generally  recognized,  and, 
by  the  weeding  out  of  superfluous  matter,  their  essential  points 
survive  as  positive  science.* 

•  In  the  work  of  the  Barone<»s  v.  Marenholtz-'Riil'^w,  entitled  "Die  neue 
Arbeit  und  die  Erziehung  nach  Fiobel's  Methode,"  Frobel's  educational  theories 
are  fully  expounded. 


112  A  Neiv  Method  of  Education. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

EARLIEST    DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE    LIMBS. 

During  tlie  first  years  ot  life  the  physical  development  is  the- 
most  marked  and  prominent,  but  the  growth  of  the  soul, 
though  unperceived,  goes  on,  nevertheless,  all  the  while;  for  in 
infancy  body  and  soul  are  still  completely  in  union,  and  can 
only  be  developed  through  mutual  interaction.  It  is  on  this 
principle  that  Frobel  has  compiled  his  "  Mutter  u.  Koselieder." 
The  games  introduced  in  this  book  are  adapted  both  to  cultivat- 
ing the  limbs  and  senses,  and  guiding  and  assisting  the  mind  in 
its  first  awakening  stage.* 

Gymnastic  exercises  have  come  to  be  regarded  as  essential  to 
bodily  health,  and  their  use  in  later  childhood  and  youth  is 
consequently  gaining  more  and  more  ground  in  the  present 
day.  But  bodily  discipline  is  essential  also  to  the  moral  well- 
being  of  humanity.  By  developing  muscular  force  the  will  is 
strengthened,  and  grace  of  mind  and  spirit  increases  in  propor- 
tion to  physical  grace. 

Now,  if  children  require  systematic  muscular  exercises  when 
they  can  already  walk  and  run  and  jump,  they  need  them  still 
more  beforehand.  Circus-riders  and  tight-rope  dancers  are 
taken  at  the  tenderest  age  to  be  trained  for  their  professions, 
because  it  is  known  that  the  pliability  of  the  limbs  decreases 
with  every  additional  year. 

For  centuries  past  the  maternal  instinct,  following  its  playful 
bent,  has  devised  all  manner  of  little  games  which  tend  to- 
exercise  children's  limbs;  but  these,  like  everything  else  that 

*  The  following  explanations  would  be  more  intelligible,  if,  side  by  side  witb 
them,  readers  would  study  the  book  itself,  in  which  the  pictures  help  to  illos- 
trai/e  the  meaning. 


Earliest  Development  of  the  Limbs.  1 1 3 

Imman  beings  do  merely  from  instinct,  fall  far  short  of  what 
they  should  be. 

The  popular  nursery-games  that  have  been  handed  down  by 
tradition  are  very  much  alike  in  all  civilized  countries,  for  they 
are  the  product  of  the  natural  instinct  of  mothers,  which  is  the 
same  all  over  the  world  and  in  all  ages.  Of  these  Frobel  col- 
lected together  all  that  were  suitable  for  his  purpose.  During 
the  greater  part  of  his  life  it  was  his  habit  to  go  about  familiarly 
among  the  homes  of  the  people,  in  order  to  observe  the  ways  of 
mothers  with  their  babies ;  and  in  this  way  he  accumulated  a 
whole  store  of  national  nursery  and  cradle  songs,  which  he 
adapted  for  his  own  use,  taking  care  always  to  eliminate  from 
them  all  the  coarse  expressions,  unchildlike  ideas,  or  utter  non- 
sense, which  too  often  disfigured  and  spoilt  them.  Mothers 
never  play  with  their  children  in  perfect  silence ;  they  invari- 
ably talk  or  sing  to  them  all  the  while,  and  those  among  us, 
who  can  still  recall,  with  inward  emotion,  the  first  songs  with 
which  their  mother's  voice  lulled  them  to  sleep  in  their  infancy, 
will  not  wonder  at  Frobel's  connecting  the  earliest  awakening 
of  feeling  with  the  songs  that  accompany  his  games. 

The  object  of  ordinary  gymnastic  exercises  is  to  produce  the 
completest  possible  development  of  all  the  muscles.  This, 
however,  would  be  fatiguing  for  young  children,  who,  during 
the  first  years  of  their  life,  require  to  be  equally  stimulated  on 
all  sides  of  their  nature.  Every  branch,  too,  of  their  training 
must  be  carried  on  by  the  most  gradual  process.  Both  these 
essentials  are  fully  considered  in  Frobel's  "Gymnastic  Games." 
The  gymnastics  of  the  body  serve,  at  the  same  time,  to  promote 
the  growth  of  the  mental  and  spiritual  organs,  and  the  first 
playful  activity  of  the  child  is  made  the  starting-point,  and  the 
preparation  for  all  later  development,  both  in  the  Kindergarten 
and  the  school,  so  that  there  may  be  sequence  and  continuity  in 
the  whole  course  of  education. 

Life  may  be  defined  as  activity,  and  all  activity,  Avhich  is  in 
proportion  to  the  natural  strength,  and  not  over-straining,  is 
enjoyment.  This  truth  is  exemplified  in  the  gambols  of  young 
animals,  and  in  the  case  of  little  children  ^vho  derive  the 
greatest  enjoyment  from  kicking  their  feet  against  some  object 

I 


114  ^  iV^w  Method  of  Education. 


which  offers  resistance,  or  against  the  hands  of  their  mothers, 
who  should  encourage  them  to  repeat  the  exercise,  for  it 
strengthens  the  muscles  of  their  backs  and  legs.  But  the 
principal  gymnastic  exercises  in  Frobel's  book  have  reference 
to  the  hand,  which  is  the  most  important  member  of  the  human 
body.  The  increased  use  of  machinery  in  the  present  day  tends 
more  and  more  to  relieve  human  beings  from  all  the  rougher 
kind  of  manual  labour,  but  there  is,  on  the  other  hand,  in  all 
branches  of  industry  a  growing  demand  for  artistic  work,  and 
it  is,  therefore,  of  the  greatest  importance  that  care  should  be 
bestowed  on  cultivating  manual  dexterity.  We  have  but  to 
look  at  the  children  of  the  working-classes  to  see  how  stiff  and 
awkward  are  usually  those  limbs  which  will  one  day  be  called 
upon  to  work  for  their  bread.  Unless  the  hand  be  exercised  at 
the  beginning  of  life  a  gi'eat  measure  of  its  pliability  is  lost, 
and  the  muscles  do  not  acquire  sufficient  strength  to  be  able  to 
satisfy  the  modern  technical  demands  of  all  kinds.  Pianoforte 
players,  sculptors,  and  other  artists,  know  that  it  is  only  by 
practice,  carried  on  from  their  earliest  childhood,  that  they  can 
attain  perfect  mastery  in  the  technicalities  of  their  arts.  Edu- 
cation should,  therefore,  begin  with  teaching  the  mayiacfement  of 
material,  or  manual  work,  then  go  on  to  the  transformation  of 
material,  which  constitutes  art  or  industry,  and  finally  lead  up 
to  the  spiritualization  of  material.  Not  time  only,  but  much 
tedious  discipline  also  would  be  saved  in  late  years  if  children 
acquired  a  certain  amount  of  mechanical  dexterity  by  means  of 
their  early  games. 

In  his  "  Mutter  u.  Koselieder,"  too,  Frobel  has  had  regard  to 
the  threefold  character  of  relationship  in  which  the  individual 
is  bound  to  Nature,  to  Humanity,  and  to  God,  in  which  all  his 
other  relationships  are  comprised,  and  which  the  human  being 
enters  into  at  his  birth. 

All  things  whatsoever  that  surround  a  child  are  either  pro- 
ducts of  Nature  or  of  human  culture,  and  have  their  ultimate 
origin  in  God.  Now,  the  child's  relation  to  these  things  should 
be  conveyed  to  him  with  the  utmost  possible  clearness  and  defi- 
niteness,  while,  at  the  same  time,  the  impression    of  unity  and 


Earliest  Development  of  tlie  Limbs.  115 

continuity,  in  which,  as  yet,  everything  appears  to  him,  must 
be  preserved  as  much  as  possible.  A  child  is  not  a  divided 
being  at  variance  with  himself  and  the  universe,  but  a  har- 
monious whole — one  in  his  unconsciousness,  and,  therefore, 
still  innocent,  and  without  any  suspicion  of  discords  or  divi- 
sions. 

We  have  thus  seen  that  the  object  of  the  "  Mutter  u.  Kose- 
lieder "  is  to  bring  out  in  the  infant,  during  its  unconscious 
period,  the  points  of  contact  at  which  its  being  passes  into 
relationship  with  Nature,  with  H.umanity,  and  with  God.  By 
means  of  little  hand-games,  accompanied  by  songs,  its  atten- 
tion is  directed  to  objects  of  nature  and  human  industry,  and 
by  a  gradual  process  its  mind  is  led  up  to  the  Creator  of  all 
things. 

Let  us  examine  a  few  specimens  from  the  "  Mutter  u.  Kose- 
lieder,"  and  see  how  Frobel  carries  out  his  ideas. 


Ii6  A  Neiv  Method  of  Education. 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE    child's    first    RELATIONS    TO   NATURE. 

We  must  here,  of  course,  take  for  granted  that  the  essential 
conditions  of  true  education  are  at  hand,  and  also  teachers  who 
understand  how  to  make  use  of  these  conditions.  In  the 
streets  of  great  cities,  where  many  a  child  grows  up  to  the  age 
of  ten  yeats  or  more  without  making  any  acquaintance  with 
Nature,  without  seeing  anything  of  the  life  of  tields  and  forests, 
of  the  animal  and  the  vegetable  universe,  Frobel's  system  of 
education  cannot  possibly  be  applied  (unless  there  are  Kinder- 
gartens within  reach  to  supply  the  life  of  Nature),  and  the 
human  bemg  must  go  without  the  most  essential  and  natural 
elements  of  its  development.  The  Kindergartens  should  supply 
to  children  the  atmosphere  of  country-life  which  is  of  such 
vital  importance  to  them,  and  we  feel  assured  that  the  day  will 
come  when  it  will  be  considered  disgraceful  for  a  human  being 
to  grow  up  without  coming  into  contact  with  the  glorious 
world  of  Nature,  where  the  breath  of  Nature's  God  breathes 
with  life-giving  power. 

When  a  child  of  about  a  year  old  is  taken  out  of  doors,  the 
things  that  first  attract  its  notice  are  those  that  move.  Move- 
ment signifies  to  children  lije^  and  is  what  they  first  become 
aware  of.  Hence  the  child's  glance  will  at  once  be  arrested 
by  a  weather-cock,  or  any  other  object,  moved  by  the  wind. 

The  Weather-Cock 

is  the  name  given  to  one  of  the  first  games  for  hand-gymnastics 
in  the  "  Mutter  u.  Koselieder." 

The  hand  stretched  out  sideways  with  the  thumb  held  upright, 
represents  the  weather-cock,  and  the  movement  from  one  side 


The  Child's  First  Relations  to  Nature.  wf 

to  the  other  forms  an  exercise  for  the  muscles  which  connect  the 
arm  and  the  hand,  and  are  the  most  important  in  all  handiwork. 

But,  in  order  that  it  may  fulfil  the  purpose  of  strengthening 
the  muscles,  the  movement  must  be  uniform  and  regular.  This 
is  not  generally  the  case  with  ordinary  nursery  hand-games. 

Children  only  really  understand  what  comes  into  immediate 
contact  with  them,  and  is,  so  to  speak,  part  of  their  lives.  No 
amount  of  vague  staring  at  weather-cocks,  or  any  other  object 
swayed  by  the  wind,  will  produce  in  them  anything  like  a  true 
impression  of  a  force  which  causes  the  movement;  bat,  if  they 
imitate  it  themselves  by  the  voluntary  action  of  their  hands, 
they  will,  after  frequent  repetition  of  the  exercise,  begin  dimly  to 
realize  the  idea  of  an  invisible  force  at  work  behind  the  visible 
manifestation. 

Position  of  the  hand. 


The   motto   of   this   game,    addressed   to   the  mother,  is  as 
follows  : 

'*  Wouldst  thou  give  thy  child  of  outward  things  a  notion, 
Let  it  learn  early  to  imitate  their  motion. 
Thus  in  these  things  deeply  ground  it, 

It  will  learn 

To  discern, 
And  to  copy  things  around  it. " 

A.  a. 

SONG. 

*'  As  the  weather-cock  on  the  tower 
Turns  about  in  wind  and  shower, 
Baby  moves  its  hands  with  pleasure, 
Round  and  round  in  merry  measure." 

A.  G. 

If  the  action  were  not  accompanied  by  explanatory  words. 


1 1 8  A  Neiv  Method  of  Education. 

the  child's  intelligence  and  power  of  speech  would  not  be 
called  out. 

The  next  important  step,  viz.,  to  connect  the  visible  pheno- 
mena of  which  the  child  has  been  made  conscious,  with  an  in- 
visible cause,  is  easily  taken.     The  mother,  for  instance,  says  : 

The  wind  moves  the  trees,  the  mill,  the  kite,  &c.,''  and  then 
asks,  "  Where  is  the  wind  ?  "  and  when  the  child  begins  to  look 
about  in  search  of  the  wind,  she  says  ;  "  The  wind  does  all  this, 
but  we  cannot  see  the  wind." 

Another  jjame  is  called 


The  Sux-Bird, 

and  consists  in  reflecting  the  sun's  rays  through  a  bit  of  glass, 
and  letting  them  play  on  the  wall.  The  mother  or  teacher  says 
to  the  child,  "  Catch  the  bird,"  and  after  he  has  made  two  or 
three  vain  attempts  to  do  so,  she  adds,  "  We  can  see  the  bird, 
but  it  will  not  let  us  catch  it."  The  cHild  thus  learns  at  an 
early  age  that  it  is  not  only  material  possession  that  gives 
pleasure,  that  beauty  has  the  power  to  penetrate  to  the  soul, 
and  to  produce  greater  happiness  than  mere  enjoyment  of  the 
senses  can  afford. 

The  knowledge  impressed  on  its  mind  in  various  ways  that 
material  things  cannot  be  laid  hold  of  with  all  the  senses,  and 
that  their  ultimate  cause  cannot  be  gi'asped  at  all,  leads  the 
child  at  the  very  beginning  of  its  observations  from  the  idea 
of  matter  to  something  higher  than  matter,  and  accustoms  it 
to  reason  from  the  visible  world  to  a  higher  invisible  one,  and 
to  a  higher  power  ruling  in  everything.  It  must  be  well  under- 
stood, of  course,  that  at  first  children  are  only  capable  of  receiv- 
ing a  more  or  less  distinct  impression  of  this  truth. 

But  not  the  phenomena  of  the  earth  only,  those  of  the  heavens- 
also,  the  sun,  the  moon,  and  the  stars,  are  made  use  of  by  Frobel 
to  convey  to  the  child's  mind  a  sense  of  the  relationship  of  man 
to  the  universe.  And  here  he  adopts  the  only  possible  means, 
viz.,  awakening  in  the  child  a  perception  of  the  living  bond 
of  union  which  connects  everything  together  as  a  whole,  the 
power  of  sympathy  and  love.     The  child  suspects  as  yet  no 


The  Child's  First  Relations  to  Nature.  119 

divisions  and  contradictions  in  the  world ;  his  nearest  snn-ound- 
ings,  which  speak  to  him  as  love,  are  for  him  the  measure  and 
pattern  of  everything  else.  Neither  has  he  any  conception  of 
distance,  but  snatches  at  the  far-off  moon  as  at  the  flower  close 
to  him.  And  this  sense  of  the  unity  and  continuity  of  the 
outward  world,  which  is  the  result  of  his  own  inward  harmony, 
or  innocence,  it  must  be  our  endeavour  to  preserve  for  him,  and 
not  let  the  knowledge  of  conflicting  forces  open  his  eyes  any 
sooner  to  divisions  and  discords  than  growing  self-consciousness 
will  sooner  or  later  unavoidably  do  for  him.  The  intuitive 
perception  in  the  child's  soul  of  the  oneness  and  unity  of  God 
is  after  all  the  eternal  truth,  and  all  the  warring  and  strife  in 
the  more  conscious  lives  of  men  and  women  only  a  passing  phe- 
nomenon of  spiritual  growth. 

The  Child  and  tee  Moon 

is  an  example  of  the  only  intelligible  way  in  which  the  great 
universal  harmony  and  concord  of  all  created  things  can  be 
communicated  to  the  child's  mind,  viz.,  through  the  idea  of  love 
to  himself. 

SONG. 
{To  he  said  or  mng  by  the  Mother.) 

**  See,  my  child,  the  moon's  sweet  light, 

Up  in  heaven  shining  bright. 

Moon  come  down,  come  quickly  here 

To  my  little  child  so  dear." 
' '  Gladly  would  I  come  and  play 

With  you,  but  too  far  away 

I  live,  and  from  my  home  above 

I  cannot  come  to  those  I  love. 

But  I  send  ray  shining  light 

To  make  the  earth  you  live  on  bright. 

Just  to  please  you,  little  child, 

I  look  down  with  my  glance  so  mild  ; 

And,  although  I'm  far  away, 

I  watch  with  love  your  merry  play. 

You  must  promise  me  to  be 

Good  and  kind,  and  then  you'll  see, 


1 20  A  Neiv  Method  of  Education, 

I  shall  often,  often  come, 
And  look  in  at  your  happy  home  ; 
And  when  my  shining  light  you  see. 
You  must  wave  a  kiss  to  me. " 
*'  Good-bye,  good-bye,  dear  moon, 
Come  back  again  right  soon !  " 

Thus  Frobel  would  have  the  natural  phenomena  of  the 
universe  made  use  of  as  stepping-stones  to  higher  knowledge, 
and,  above  all  things,  by  leading  the  child's  observations  in 
gradual  stages  from  created  things  up  to  the  Creator,  he  would 
make  these  phenomena  the  means  of  conveying  to  the  child's 
soul  a  conception  of  the  highest  Being.  As  he  himself  says, 
"  My  system  of  education  is  based  on  religion,  and  intended  to 
lead  up  to  religion." 

The  child's  relation  also  to  the  world  of  plants  and  animals 
will  only  become  real  and  vivid  to  him  if  he  has  to  do  with 
them  himself,  if  from  his  cradle  he  has  grown  up  among 
flowers,  and  has  not  lacked  animal  playfellows,  "  his  brothers 
beneath  him,"  as  the  French  historian,  Michelet,  says. 

Frobel  would  have  liked  to  see  hung  up  before  the  cradle  of 
every  infant  a  bird  in  a  cage,  the  movements  and  twitterings  of 
which  would  occupy  the  child's  attention  immediately  on  its 
awaking,  and  prevent  that  idle  brooding  by  which  the  weight  of 
tlie  material  world  smothers  the  feeble  spark  of  the  spirit.  Even 
young  babies  should  be  brought  into  contact  with  all  the  elemen- 
tary forces  of  nature — which  are  those  most  closely  related  to  its 
own  nature — and  for  this  purpose  they  should  spend  the  greater 
part  of  the  day,  when  the  weather  and  season  allow  it,  in  the 
open  air,  where  the  voices  of  wind  and  water,  colour,  form, 
and  sounds  of  thousand-fold  kinds,  will  be  their  first  instructors. 
Thus  the  senses  will  be  trained  and  fitted  for  conveying  to  the  soul 
its  earliest  nourishment.  Without  cultivation  of  the  senses  culti- 
vation of  the  soul  is  impossible.  Too  little  distinction,  however,  is 
still  made  between  disciplined  and  undisciplined  enjoyment  of  the 
senses.  Real,  elevated,  mental  enjoyment  can  only  be  realized 
through  cultivated  senses,  and  it  is  only  by  means  of  such 
enjoyment  that  the  delight  in  coarse  gratification  of  the  senses, 
which  is  incompatible  with  human  dio-nity,  can  be  overcome. 


The  Child's  First  Relations  to  Nature.  121 

Children  should  be  encouraged,  also,  to  call  around  them  the 
chickens,  pigeons,  or  other  domestic  animals  at  hand,  and,  whilst 
they  are  scattering  food  before  them,  little  songs  may  be  sung  in 
which  the  modes  of  life  of  these  animals  may  be  described. 
Children  are  not  capable  of  intelligent  observation  of  human  life, 
and  can  only  understand  the  actions  of  human  beings  in  so  far 
as  they  have  any  relation  to  themselves.  The  life  of  animals, 
on  the  other  hand,  supplies  them  with  hundreds  of  scenes  in 
which  the  rude  primitive  existence,  out  of  which  humanity  has 
developed  itself,  is  reflected. 

"The  Farm-tard  Gate" 

is  imitated  by  the  position  of  hands  and  arms  as  represented  in 
the  accompanying  illustration,  and  the  song  that  goes  with  it 
teaches  the  names  of  the  different  languages  of  domestic  animals. 


THE    FARM-YARD    GATE. 

What  can  this  be  ?     A  gate  I  see ! 

Oh  !  come  into  the  court  with  me  ; 
The  horses  are  springing, 
The  pigeons  are  flying, 
The  geese  are  chattering, 
The  ducks  are  quacking, 
The  hens  are  cackling, 
The  cock  is  crowing, 
The  cow  is  lowing, 
The  calf  is  sporting, 
The  lamb  is  baaing, 
The  sheep  is  bleating, 
The  pig  is  granting  ; 


122  A  New  Method  of  Education. 


Closely  shut  the  gate  must  be, 
That  none  may  run  away, 
But  all  in  peace  together  stay. 

A.  G. 

It  is  generally  the  sight  of  animals  that  first  awakens  in 
children  a  desire  for  knowledge.  With  a  little  encouragement 
and  direction  they  will  easily  learn  their  names  and  chief 
characteristics,  and  be  led  to  observe  their  movements,  habits, 
manner  of  life,  &c. ;  they  will  learn  how  to  manage  and  look 
after  them,  and  so  get  to  love  them,  and  know  their  value  to 
mankind.  And  all  this  knowledge  will  be  a  preparation  for  life 
and  intercourse  in  the  world  of  human  beings.  If  children  have 
early  learnt  to  observe  the  endless  differences  that  exist  in  the 
conditions  of  animals,  how  all  the  separate  species,  varying  in 
their  ways  and  requirements,  live  and  flourish  in  different 
elements  and  surroundings,  they  will  not  be  so  liable  to  fall  into 
the  philistine  habit  of  criticizing  and  condemning  everything  in 
which  their  fellow-creatures  differ  from  themselves — the  seeds  of 
wide-hearted  toleration  and  love  of  justice  will  have  been  planted 
in  them. 

All  the  different  images  and  influences  of  nature  produce^ 
corresponding  moods  in  the  human  mind.  A  landscape,  smiling 
in  the  sunshine,  impresses  the  mind  very  differently  from  a 
liurricane  by  the  sea-shore,  and  the  song  of  the  nightingale  pro- 
duces a  different  effect  from  the  croaking  of  owls.  The  young 
child  perceives  at  first  only  individual  objects  in  nature ;  the 
thing  which  is  occupying  him  at  the  moment  is  all  that  will 
excite  his  attention  or  influence  his  mind. 

To  grown  people  and  children  alike  impressions  produced  hj 
nature  seem,  more  or  less,  the  creation  of  their  own  souls,  and 
for  this  reason,  that  there  is  everywhere  harmony  between  the- 
outward  world  and  the  inner  nature  of  man,  everywhere  analo- 
gies may  be  traced  between  the  material  and  the  spiritual  world  : 
and  how  should  it  be  otherwise  when  the  Spirit  which  pervades 
both  these  inter-dependent  worlds  is  one  and  the  same  Spirit  of 
God? 

To  a  song  called  "The  Little  Fishes,"  which  is  accompanied 
by  a  finger  exercise  imitating  the  swimming  undulating  move- 


The  Child's  First  Relations  to  Nature.  123 

ment  of  fish,  Frobel  has  afl&xed  the  following  motto  (which,, 
indeed,  may  be  considered  the  key  to  all  the  songs  in  the 
book), — 


**  Where  there's  movement,  where  there's  action, 

For  the  child's  eye  there's  attraction  ! 

Where  brightness,  melody,  and  measure, 

Its  little  heart  will  throb  with  pleasure. 
Oh  !  Mothers,  strive  to  keep  these  young  souls  fresh  and  clear, 
That  order,  truth,  and  beauty,  always  may  be  dear !  " 

Cleanliness  and  order  in  everything  that  relates  to  a  child's  - 
bodily  wants  will  also  influence  the  purity  of  its  soul,  just  as  the- 
delight  in  clear  sparkling  water,  and  all   that  is  bright   and 
transparent,  has  more  to   do  with  the  spiritual  nature  than  the 
bodily  senses.     "  All  things  are  parables"  (^Alles  ist  Gleichniss), 
said  Goethe,  when  he  wanted  to  express  the  analogy  between  the  ^ 
world  of  outward  phenomena  and  the  world  of   thought  and 
ideas.     The  time  will  come  when  the  whole  symbolic  language- 
of  nature  will  be  clear  and  intelligible  to  mankind. 

It  is  not  mere  infantine  curiosity  which  is  at  work  when 
children  peer  with  eager  eyes  into  a  nest  full  of  young  birds. 
The  snug  little  home,  in  which  the  parent-birds  nestle  out  of 
sight  with  their  young  ones,  is  to  the  child  a  picture  of  its  own 
home  life,  which  he  cannot  form  a  distinct  objective  conception 
of,  until  he  has  seen  it,  as  it  were,  placed  at  a  distance  from, 
himself.  His  own  parents  are  too  closely  united  with  him,  too 
much  part  of  his  own  life,  for  him  to  be  able  to  form  a  right 
idea  of  his  relations  to  them. 

A  child  of  two  or  three  years  old,  who  tries  hard  to  round 


his  little  hands  into   the  shape  of  a  bird's-nest,  singing  all   the- 


124  A  Neiv  Method  of  Edtication, 


while  the  little  "  bird -song,"  will  be  sure  at  the  same  time  to 
think  of  his  own  dear  mother. 

Two  pretty  birds  built  a  soft  warm  nest, 

In  which  together  they  may  rest ; 

Three  round  eggs  in  the  nest  they  lay, 

And  hatch  three  young  birds  one  fine  day ! 
"Twit,  twit,  twit,"  the  young  ones  call, 
*'  Mother,  thou  art  so  dear  to  us  all." 

A.  G. 

Frobel  uses  this  example,  of  the  visible  providence  of  parents, 
to  lead  the  mind  up  to  the  invisible  providence  of  the  all- 
protecting  Heavenly  Father.  The  child  is  then  taught  to 
observe  either  in  real  life,  or  in  the  pictures  of  the  "  Mutter  und 
Koselieder,"  how  every  little  bird  is  taken  care  of  in  a  special 
way,  how  it  builds  its  nest  where  it  is  safe  from  danger,  and 
where  the  food  it  requires  is  within  reach,  and  that  it  builds 
this  nest,  and  hatches  its  young  ones,  at  the  time  of  year  when 
the  unfledged  little  creatures  will  be  protected  by  the  warmth 
of  the  Spring  sun,  and  so  forth.  And  then  the  mother,  drawing 
the  child's  attention  to  the  fearlessness  with  which  the  little 
birds  lie  quietly  in  their  nest,  waiting  for  the  return  of  their 
mother,  who  has  gone  to  fetch  them  food,  repeats  these  words  : 

"The  heavenly  Father's  glorious  sun 

Warms  thy  home  too  and  makes  it  bright, 
He  shines  on  thee  and  every  one. 

Look  up  and  thank  him  for  his  light." 

And  many  other  verses  of  the  book  point  in  like  manner  to 
"God's  all-ruling  Providence. 

The  child,  who,  at  the  age  of  two  years,  has  imitated  the 
watering  of  flowers,  in  the  hand-game  called  the  "  wateringr- 
pot,"  when  it  is  a  year  or  two  older,  will  delight  in  carrying 
water  to  real  flowers,  and  somewhat  later  on  will  tend  its  pa  tch 
of  ground  diligently,  for  its  senses  will  from  the  very  urst, 
have  been  awakened  to  the  fact  that  all  living  things  require 
care  and  love,  and  that  love  must  show  itself  in  action.  What- 
ever   children  have  to  take  care  of   they  learn  to  love,  and, 


The  Child's  First  Relations  to  Nature.  125. 


througli  the  care  and  attention  bestowed  on  plants  and  animals, 
their  feelings  will  be  so  enlarged  and  cultivated  that  in  after- 
life they  will  be  capable  of  making  sacrifices  for  the  human 
beings  whom  they  love. 

As  every  human  instinct  has  its  analogy  in  nature,  so  has 
that  instinct  of  which  conscience  is  in  time  developed.  If  the 
order  and  regularity  of  nature  be  rightly  understood,  and  the 
evil  recognized  which  follows  neglect  or  violation  of  natural 
laws,  the  order  of  the  moral  world,  transgression  against  which 
constitutes  sin,  will  be  easily  grasped.  Just  as  every  breach  of 
the  laws  of  Nature  speaks  distinctly  in  the  outward  visible 
world,  so  does  the  voice  of  conscience  make  itself  loudly  heard 
within,  when,  by  something  unworthy  of  its  higher  destiny,  the 
laws  of  human  nature  are  violated. 

None  but  those  who  do  not  understand  or  observe  the  nature 
and  character  of  children,  who  have  forgotten  their  own  child- 
hood, and  have  no  feeling  or  love  for  nature,  will  consider  it  a 
piece  of  far-fetched  absurdity,  thus  to  interpret  the  earliest 
games  of  children  as  the  starting-point  of  the  life  of  the  soul, 
and  the  beginning  of  mental  development.  If  the  first  play 
and  laughter  of  the  infant  had  no  connection  with  the  last 
deeds  of  the  old  man,  how  could  we  pretend  to  believe  in  any- 
thing like  continuity  in  human  life,  and  man's  inward  develop- 
ment ?  Only  when  the  idea  of  this  continuity  has  been  fully 
grasped,  when  education  shall  succeed  in  preserving  unbroken 
the  thread  which  connects  the  child  with  the  youth,  will  the 
man  live  and  act  to  the  end  of  his  days  up  to  the  ideal  of  his 
youth.  And  then  only  shall  we  see  real  men  and  women  truly 
gi-eat  and  worthy  characters. 

In  an  age  like  ours,  when  fresh  advances  must  be  made  in- 
order,  as  far  as  possible,  to  heal  the  breach  which  has  hitherto 
existed  between  man  and  nature — and  which  was  necessary  for 
the  growth  of  human  understa;nding  and  consciousness — and 
to  bring  humanity  and  nature,  by  the  conquest  and  spiritualiza- 
tion  of  the  latter,  into  a  new  bond  of  union,  in  an  age  when 
natural  science  places  itself  at  the  head  of  all  science,  and 
subdues  to  itself  one  department  ot  life  after  another,  a  new 


^'126  A  Nezu  Method  of  Education. 

generation  must  not  be  allowed  to  grow  up  without  receiving 
its  initiation  in  this  temple  of  Divine  revelation,  and  being  fitted 
to  exercise  wisely  the  sovereignty  assigned  to  man  over  the 
kingdom  of  Nature.  And  this  initiation  must  take  place  at 
the  very  commencement  of  life,  through  the  teaching  of  the 
symbolic  language  of  Nature,  which  children's  eyes  can  read 
better  than  others.  As  humanity  in  the  dawn  of  its  existence 
apprehended  clearly  the  language  of  Nature,  and  heard  in  it 
distinctly  the  voice  of  God,  so  in  the  thousand  voices  of  Nature 
does  the  child  hear  God  speaking  to  it,  and  lofty  truths  are 
the  first  impressions  made  on  its  soul.  The  rippling  brook  tells 
him  the  loveliest  fairy  tales  ;  the  vine-leaves  swayed  by  the 
summer  breeze  reveal  to  him  the  first  secrets  of  beauty  ;  the 
flowers  greet  him  as  brothers  and  sisters,  and  exchange 
smiling  glances  with  him ;  the  wind-chased  clouds,  painted  by 
the  evening  sun,  shape  themselves  to  his  fancy  into  magic 
.pictures  of  an  ideal  world  ;  butterflies  and  insects  speak  to  him 
in  a  familiar  language,  and  the  birds  gladden  his  heart  with 
poetry  that  is  ever  new. 

In  such  a  world  of  beauty  and  divine  peace,  the  young  heart 
will  so  expand  and  strengthen  as  to  be  able  later  to  endure  the 
turmoil  and  strife  of  the  human  world,  will  acquire  force 
sufficient  to  overcome  all  adverse  powers,  and  gain  an  indomit- 
able belief  in  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  an  immutable  trust  in  the 
fatherly  love  of   God. 

"What  God  has  joined  together,  let  not  man  separate  !  "  says 
Frobel  with  regard  to  man's  '*  union  with  Nature." 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE   child's   FIEST   EELATIONS   TO   MANKIND. 

The  child  awakens  to  life  in  its  mother's  arms,  its  mother  is,  so 
to  say,  its  own  wider  life.  Without  her  care,  without  her  looks 
of  love,  existence  would  offer  a  sorry  prospect  to  the  young 
new-comer.  The  mother  must  be  her  child's  first  mediator 
with  the  world  and  mankind. 

The  physical  union  between  mother  and  child,  which  still 
continues  for  some  time  after  birth,  becomes  gradually  loosened, 
and  that  first  by  the  child  learning  to  walk,  which  is  the  first 
stage  of  physical  independence.  But  even  in  this  earliest 
period  of  the  child's  life  a  certain  degree  of  spiritual  union, 
between  mother  and  child,  must  have  been  gained,  if,  with  the 
growing  freedom  and  independence  of  body,  there  is  to  be  an 
increase  of  the  mental  union  from  which  the  mother  derives 
her  chief  educational  power.  Woe  to  the  child  who  learns  to 
run  without  ever,  during  its  first  exercise  of  this  new  freedom, 
hurrying  back  in  terror  to  his  mother's  loving  arms  !  To  the 
end  of  his  life  there  will  be  a  void  in  his  soul,  for  the  first  love- 
bond  in  his  life  was  not  knit  closely  and  securely  enough.  But 
if  the  hearts  of  mother  and  child  are  rightly  fused  together,, 
during  the  period  of  bodily  union  and  earliest  nurture,  then  the 
physical  emancipation  of  the  child  will  work  in  the  opposite 
direction  as  regards  mind  and  spirit:  spiritual  union  will 
increase  with  the  child's  consciousness  of  its  physical  indepen- 
dence of  its  mother,  with  the  development  of  its  personality. 

The  first  utterance  through  which  the  child  expresses  its 
love-relationship  to  human  beings,  to  its  mother,  is  smiling. 
The  human  heart  alone  is  capable  of  laughter  and  tears,  and 
for  the  newborn  infant  this  is  the  only  language  at  command  to 
^express  its  wants  and  feelings. 


128  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

All  relationships  start  from  one  point,  one  object,  and  they 
mnst  first  be  firmly  knit  round  this  point  before  they  can 
bear  to  have  their  limits  widened.  Thus  the  mother  should 
be  the  central  point  round  which  the  child's  being  revolves 
at  first,  she  should  not  allow  any  one  else  to  have  so  much 
to  do  with  him  as  herself,  in  order  that  his  heart  may  learn 
to  concentrate  itself.  A  great  deal  of  harm  is  still  done  in 
this  respect  by  nurses  and  other  servants.  The  children  of 
wealthy  parents,  who  are  surrounded  by  numbers  of  attendants, 
and  handed  over  first  to  one  and  then  another,  frequently 
grow  up  with  weak  unstable  affections. 

The  natural  sequence  of  human  relationship  for  the  child 
is  from  the  mother  to  the  father,  the  brothers  and  sisters, 
the  grandparents,  the  more  distant  members  of  the  family, 
and  the  servants  of  the  house;  and  after  these  come  its  own 
playfellows  and  the  friends  of  its  parents.  Very  young 
children  are  apt  to  cry,  or,  at  any  rate,  put  on  a  look  of 
alarm,  if  taken  amongst  a  large  company  of  strangers,  and 
this  is  simply  because  they  cannot  yet  feel  any  connection 
between  themselves  and  people  outside  their  own  family,  and 
are,  therefore,  frightened  by  them.  Everything  strange  and 
unknown,  unless  it  be  led  up  to  by  gradual  transitions,  gives 
a  shock  to  the  system.  If  the  harmony  of  the  soul  is  to  be 
complete  in  the  future,  the  child's  feelings  must  not  be  over- 
strained at  first,  but  the  circle  of  his  affections  allowed  to 
expand  gradually. 

Hence  it  must  always  have  a  pernicious  effect  to  take  young 
children  out  of  the  family  circle,  and  set  them  in  the  midst 
of  a  larger  community,  where  no  natural  bonds  of  affection 
can  be  knit.*  Children  who  have  been  placed  at  an  early  age 
in  orphanages,  or  who  have  spent  the  first  part  of  their  lives 
in  a  foundling  hospital,  will  generally  be  found  to  have  a 
melancholy,  listless  expression  of  countenance  ;  they  always 
look  as  if  something  was  wanting  to  them,  however  good  the 
arrangements  of  these  institutions  may  be.     Nothing  can  fully 

*  It  is  quite  another  thing  to  take  young  children  (even  during  their  two 
first  years)  for  part  of  the  day  to  Kindergartens,  for  they  will  there  be  thrown 
only  with  children,  and  will  have  companions  of  their  own  age. 


The  Child^s  First  Relations  to  Majikiiid.  129 


take  the  place  of  the  natural  atmosphere  of  family-life  which 
has  been  divinely  ordained  for  children,  though  at  the  same 
time  it  is  fair  to  acknowledge  that  orphan  asylums  do,  to  an 
immense  extent,  compensate  the  little  ones  received  in  them 
for  the  want  of  a  mother's  care  and  love. 

"  Father,  mother,  and  child  make  up  at  first  the  whole  human 
being,"  says  Frobel.  The  family  is  the  first  link  in  the  organ- 
ism of  humanity,  the  first  social  community.  And  if  this  first 
link  be  imperfect,  how  can  the  others  hang  together  properly  ? 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  this  small  circle,  in  which  the  starting 
point  of  morality  may  be  said  to  lie,  does  not  in  course  of  time 
extend  its  horizon,  exclusive  family  love  w^ould  degenerate  into 
family  egotism,  of  which  there  is  already  quite  enough  in  the 
world.  In  the  Middle- Ages  such  exclusiveness  was  to  a  certain 
extent  necessary ;  it  had  its  justifications  and  its  good  results. 
But  in  the  present  day  the  conditions  of  life  are  different ;  and 
family  egotism,  such  particularly  as  exists  among  the  aristocracy 
and  in  the  seclusion  of  country  life,  must  be  rooted  out  as  a 
remnant  of  feudalism  if  the  love  of  humanity  is  to  increase 
and  spread. 

Hence  children,  when  once  they  have  become  thoroughly  at 
home  in  the  family  circle — have  embraced  all  its  members  in 
their  affections — must  be  introduced  to  a  larger  circle,  which 
should  consist  chiefly  of  children  of  their  own  age.  The  face 
of  the  youngest  child  will  brighten  with  delight  when  it  meets 
another  of  the  same  size  or  age.  An  instinctive  feeling  of 
sympathy  arises  where  there  is  a  similar  degree  of  development, 
just  as  in  later  life  people  of  kindred  minds  become  attached  to 
one  another.  The  Kindergarten  affords  the  best  possible  play- 
ground for  infants,  even  before  their  second  year  ;  but  it  is  essen- 
tial that  they  should  be  accompanied  by  their  mothers  or  nurses. 

The  hand-games  in  the  "  Mutter  u.  Koselieder"  furnish  also 
the  first  introduction  to  the  family  relationships. 

Almost  everything  that  comes  under  a  child's  notice  will 
suggest  to  it  these  relationships,  because  they  are  the  only  ones 
known  to  it.  Its  dolls  are  made  to  represent  father,  mother, 
and  children  ;  it  plays  at  being  father  or  mother  with  its  little 


130  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

companions.  A  child  of  two  years  old  or  so  will  cry  out : 
"  Father  and  mother  stars  !"  while  gazing  at  two  large  shining 
orbs  in  the  heavens  {see  "  Mutter  u.  Koselieder  ").  These  and 
a  hundred  other  examples  teach  us  what  a  prominent  place  this 
most  natural  of  relations  occupies. in  the  minds  of  children. 

In  one  of  the  finger-games  the  child's  fingers  are  made  to 
represent  its  parents,  brothers,  and  sisters. 
For  instance  : 

This  is  the  mother,  dear  and  good  ; 

This  is  the  father,  of  merry  mood  ; 

This  is  the  brother,  strong  and  tall  ; 

This  is  the  sister,  beloved  of  all  ; 

This  is  the  baby,  still  tender  and  small ; 

And  this  the  whole  family  we  call. 

Count  them — one,  two,  three,  four,  five. 

To  be  happy  and  good  they  always  strive. 

In  another  game  the  fingers  are  counted  and  doubled  down 
one  after  the  other  into  the  palm  of  the  hand,  while  at  the 
same  time  the  names  of  the  brothers  and  sisters  and  of  thp 
child  itself  are  enumerated  : 


To  thumb  now  I  say  one  ; 

To  index  finger,  two  ; 

To  middle  finger,  three  ; 

To  ring  finger,  four  ; 

At  little  finger  five  I  number. 

Now  I've  put  them  all  to  bed, 

Pillowed  is  each  sleepy  head  : 

Let  them  rest  in  peaceful  slumber. 

A.  G. 

Counting  is  an  inexhaustible  source  of  amusement  to  little 
children,  as,  indeed,  may  be  everything  that  is  of  importance 
for  their  development,  if  only  it  be  presented  to  them  in  a  suit- 
able form ;  and  it  is  extremely  easy  to  make  the  importance 
of  number   intelligible    to  them   by    degrees,  either  with  the 


The  Child's  First  Relations  to  Mankind.         131 

measure  of  music,  or  tlie  rhythm  of  verse,  or  by  giving  them 
a  number  of  things  to  count.  This  little  game  also  affords 
opportunity  for  exercising  children's  power  of  self-control. 
Nothing  is  more  difficult  to  them  than  to  stand  perfectly  still 
without  making  a  sound  or  movement ;  it  is  in  vain  that  they 
are  bidden  to  be  silent  unless  they  are  made  to  feel  that 
there  is  a  reason  for  silence.  But  here  is  a  game  of  which 
they  understand  the  meaning,  and  they  will  remain  perfectly 
motionless,  with  an  expression  of  the  greatest  importance,  for 
whole  minutes,  and  even  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  under  the  im- 
pression that  they  must  not  wake  the  sleeping  little  ones. 

From  young  children  only  very  little  must  be  expected,  and 
only  a  little  at  a  time  can  be  taken  in  by  them.  The  smallest 
efforts  increased  by  degrees  will  lead  up  at  last  to  the  greatest 
ones. 

In  another  of  the  finger-games  the  fingers  represent  a  flower- 
basket  in  which  the  child  carries  flowers  to  its  father,  and  thus 
opportunity  is  afforded  to  the  tiniest  human  being  of  expressing 
its  love  in  action. 

The  motto  to  this  is  : 

"Seek  your  children's  hearts  to  hold, 
•      By  all  the  means  you  can  devise  ; 
Even  their  love  for  you  may  grow  cold, 
A  plant  that  is  not  watered,  dies." 

Further  on  in  the  book  we  find  two  grandmothers  visiting 
each  other  with  their  grandchildren ;  this  is  an  expansion  of 
family  relations.  The  story  connected  with  this  game  strings 
together  all  the  various  objects  which  have  hitherto  served  the 
child  as  playthings  in  order  to  produce  on  its  mind  au 
impression  of  the  continuity  and  connection  of  all  things. 

Frobel  says : 

•*Ein  ganzes  soil  das  Leben  ihra  warden, 
Dies  ist  schon  des  Kindes  Bestiiumung  auf  Erden." 

"  The  child  should  grow  into  a  full  harmonious  whole. 
This  is,  while  yet  on  earth,  the  destiny  of  his  soul." 

It  is  one   of  Frobel's  leading  ideas,  and  one   which  recurs 


132  A  New  Method  of  Education, 

again  and  again,  to  impress  the  unity  and  continuity  of  the 
universe  and  of  humanity  on  the  child's  mind  in  all  sorts  of 
different  ways. 

If  the  modern  mania  for  associations  would  extend  itself  to 
associations  of  families,  for  the  combined  purpose  of  improving 
education  and  of  introducing  greater  community  into  it,  more 
good  would  be  done  than  by  all  the  associations  for  material  and 
industrial  ends.  The  Kindergarten  furnishes  the  best  means  for 
this  purpose  by  placing  the  beginnings  of  education  among  a 
community  of  friendly  families,  each  member  of  which  has  the 
opportunity  of  using  his  endowments  for  the  greatest  good  of 
the  young  generation. 

As  in  the  case  of  adult  individuals,  of  nations,  and  of 
humanity,  there  are  gi'eat  and  critical  periods  of  development 
which  have  a  decisive  influence  on  their  careers  or  histories — sa 
is  it  with  the  growth  of  children.  It  is  such  periods  as  these 
that  Frobcl  endeavours  to  point  out  and  explain  to  mothers 
in  order  that  they  may  turn  them  to  their  destined  use.  The 
greater  the  child's  unconsciousness  at  the  time,  the  stronger  will 
be  the  effect  on  its  moral  development  of  all  impressions  it  may 
receive.  If  these  critical  periods  of  growth  were  judiciously  dealt 
with,  not  too  roughly  interfered  with,  while  at  the  same  time 
sufl&ciently  watched  and  helped  to  make  their  work  lasting,  the 
whole  development  of  the  character  would  receive  a  different 
and  a  better  bias.  The  most  trifling  incidents  are  of  impor- 
tance in  childhood  ;  for  the  whole  future  life  is  influenced  by  the 
impressions  made  then 

For  instance,  Frobel  looks  upon  the  child's  first  fall  as  an 
important  event  in  his  early  development,  and  one  of  which  the 
full  impression  should  not  be  disturbed.  The  child's  confidence 
m  running  arises  from  his  being  still  ignorant  of  danger — he 
is  like  virtue  which  has  not  yet  been  tried  !  He  falls,  and  is  for 
the  first  time  frightened  out  of  the  repose  of  unconsciousness. 
The  wise  plan  then  would  be  to  leave  him  to  himself,  not  to 
lift  him  up  at  once  and  overwhelm  him  with  pity  and  lamenta- 
tions, even  though  he  should  have  hurt  himself  a  little  and 
begun  to   cry.      This  first  fright  and  pain  will  thus  produ(je 


TJie  Child's  First  Relations  to  Mmikind.  133 

their  full  impression  on  liim,  and  foresight  will  be  awakened  in 
him  ;  his  self-confidence  will  no  longer  be  a  blind  instinct,  and 
the  necessity  of  acquiring  strength  and  skill  will  become 
gradually  recognized. 

Nothing  makes  people  so  superficial  as  being  subject  to  con- 
,stant  rapid  successions  of  impressions,  the  one  effacing  the  other, 
and  no  lasting  mark  being  left  on  the  mind  or  character.  The 
present  generation,  in  the  rich  and  fashionable  world  especially, 
affords  ample  proof  of  this.  Rapid  reading,  rapid  travelling, 
enjoyments  of  every  kind  (even  the  noble  pleasures  of  art  and 
nature)  crowded  one  on  the  other,  the  hurry  and  bustle  of 
modern  life  generally,  tend  more  than  anything  else  to  produce 
^superficiality,  emptiness,  and  dulness. 

So  little  thought  has  hitherto  been  given  to  the  signification 
of  children's  earliest  play,  that  we  cannot  too  often  remind  our 
readers  not  to  look  for  this  meaning  in  the  outward  form  of 
their  games,  but  in  the  fact  that  the  utterances  of  children, 
being  the  natural  expression  of  their  human  nature,  reveal  this 
nature  in  its  earliest  beginnings.  A  considerable  number  of 
examples  from  the  series  in  the  "  Mutter  u.  Koselieder "  is 
necessary  to  make  Fiobel's  theories  quite  intelligible,  and  we 
fihall  therefore  insert  here  several  other  specimens,  in  order  that 
t,he  fundamental  idea  which  guided  him  may  be  more  thoroughly 
grasped. 

One  of  the  well-known  games  often  played  with  little  children, 
and  which  always  causes  them  great  enjoyment,  is  Bo-Peep. 
Now  it  is  Frobel's  theory  that  whatever  invariably  calls  forth 
expressions  of  delight  from  the  little  beings,  and  has  become  a 
tolerably  universal  practice,  has  always  a  deep  significance  for 
their  deve.'opment ;  and  he  explains  the  never-ending  delight 
afforded  by  the  game  of  Bo-Peep  in  this  manner :  that  the  child 
through  the  momentary  separation  from  its  mother  (viz.,  when 
she  is  hidden  by  the  handkerchief)  becomes  more  conscious  of 
its  dependence  on  her,  and  for  this  reason  that  nothing  can  be 
realized,  or  made  objective  to  the  mind,  except  by  contrast  with 
its  opposite.  But  if  the  mother  should  neglect  to  evince  her 
joy  at  seeing  her  child  again  after  being  hidden  from  him,  or 


134  ^  ^^'^  Method  of  Education. 

should  allow  the  child  to  remain  hidden  too  long  without  looking 
for  him  and  rejoicing  at  finding  him  again,  a  love  of  hiding  for 
its  own  sake  may  gradually  be  acquired,  and  thus  the  first  step 
taken  towards  the  habit  of  concealment,  from  which  falsehood 
and  deceit  are  not  far  removed. 

Who  could  pretend  to  decide  exactly  where  the  first  imper- 
ceptible germs  of  evil  in  the  human  soul  originate,  and  how  they 
show  themselves  ?  The  faintest  gleam  that  promises  to  light  up 
the  darkness  of  early  psychology-  is  not  to  be  despised  by  the 
educationalist,  and  Frobel  has  certainly  penetrated  deeper  than 
any  one  else  into  the  earliest  beginnings  of  the  soul's  life.  Good 
and  evil  lie  always  close  together,  but  Divine  Providence  can 
make  good  come  even  out  of  evil ;  and  education  should  do  its 
utmost  to  use  the  impulses  which  might  lead  to  evil  for  the 
promotion  of  good.  With  regard  to  the  danger  of  the  game 
of  Bo-Peep  exciting  in  the  child  a  love  of  concealment  Frobel 
says  :  "  From  the  very  point  whence  danger  threatens  to  come, 
help  may  come  also — as  it  always  is  in  God's  world — if  only 
you,  the  mother,  rightly  understand  how  to  turn  to  a  right 
account  every  impulse  of  your  child's  nature.  Through  the 
outward  separation,  rightly  used,  the  sense  of  inward  union 
will  be  strengthened  in  the  child.  The  great  end  everywhere 
to  be  kept  in  view  is  the  attainment  of  unity,  and  every 
separation  should  be  made  to  conduce  to  this  end." 

What  is  most  essential  for  the  later  educational  influence  of 
the  mother  is  that  in  the  very  earliest  period  of  her  child's 
development  she  should  have  succeeded  in  gaining  its  confi- 
dence, so  that,  when  the  moment  of  the  first  fault  (or  "  fall ") 
comes,  the  child  should  not  think  of  hiding  itself  from  her. 
But  chis  confidence  can  only  be  won  by  the  mother's  living  in 
the  child's  life,  that  is  to  say,  playing  with  it,  entering  into  eveiy- 
thing  that  occupies  its  little  mind ;  in  short,  understanding  and 
rightly  directing  its  earliest  utterances.  If  the  first  fault  has  been 
committed,  loving  sympathy  with  the  child's  inward  suffering, 
while  at  the  same  time  he  is  made  to  feel  that  it  is  to  a  certain 
extent  brought  on  by  himself,  will  have  more  effect  than  any 
scolding  or  punishment.  That  these  cannot  be  entirely  dis- 
pensed with  as  the  child  grows  older  is  of  course  understood ; 


The  Child's  First  Relations  to  Mankind.         135 

hut  the  natural  consequences  of  a  fault  are  always  its  most 
effectual  punishment.  The  youngest  child  can  tell  at  once 
whether  praise  or  blame  is  intended  in  a  look,  and  if  the 
mother  possess  true  educational  tact  she  can  do  much  in 
this  way. 

This  occasion  of  the  child's  first  fault  is  of  the  greatest 
importance,  because  it  brings  with  it  the  first  awakening  of 
conscience. 

In  order  that  he  may  learn  to  listen  to  this  inward  voice,  to 
catch  by  degrees  its  faintest  whispers,  and  follow  them  obedi- 
ently, the  child  must  first  have  been  accustomed  to  pay  atten- 
tion to  a  call  addressed  to  himself.  Frobel  associates  the  first 
attention  to  the  mother's  call  with 

Thk  Cuckoo  Game. 

The  child  is  hidden  in  its  mother's  arms  or  close  to  her,  does 
not  see  her,  but  hears  her  call,  and  is  delighted  by  the  sound 
of  her  voice.  If  the  child  be  constantly  kept  up  to  following 
obediently  the  voice  of  his  mother  directing  him  to  what  is 
good  and  right,  he  will  also  listen  to  the  voice  within  him,  and 
not  let  it  speak  in  vain.  If  the  mother  has  made  her  call 
dear  to  him  by  never  requiring  of  him  anything  in  opposition 
to  his  childish  nature  or  to  his  particular  character,  then  he 
will  also  love  the  call  of  conscience  as  the  voice  of  God,  and 
this  voice  will  accompany  him  through  life  as  a  guardian  angel 
and  bind  him  to  God.  The  same  relation  which  exists  between 
the  child  and  mother  after  the  former  has  learnt  to  distinguish 
his  own  will,  and  therewith  his  own  personality  from  that  of 
his  mother,  will  exist  later  between  his  individual  inclinations 
and  the  judicial  or  warning  voice  of  universal  reason  speaking 
to  him  through  conscience.  If  love,  loving  obedience,  and 
trusting  confidence  prevail  between  mother  and  child  instead 
of  fear  of  severity  and  punishments,  there  will  be  a  possibility 
in  later  life  of  that  true  virtue  which  follows  the  dictates  of  con- 
science, not  from  cowardice  and  fear  of  compulsion  (inward  or 
outward),  but  fi»om  free  choice  and  out  of  love  of  right,  and  of 
God.    Whether  a  human  being  become  a  moral  freedman  (within 


136  A   New  MctJiod  of  Education. 

the  given  limits)  or  a  slave  to  his  own  and  others'  caprices, 
depends  to  a  great  extent  on  the  foundation  laid  in  the  earliest 
days  of  his  development.  It  is  not  how  often  or  how  seldom 
he  fails,  but  how  he  lifts  himself  up  from  his  falls  and  atones 
for  the  sins  committed,  that  determines  the  moral  worth  of  a 
man. 

In  our  days,  when  obedience  to  personal  authority  is  growing 
less  and  less,  it  is  certainly  of  the  utmost  importance  that 
education  should  do  all  in  its  power  to  encourage  obedience  to 
law.  The  child  should  be  made  to  feel  at  an  early  age  that  his 
parents  and  teachers  are,  like  himself,  subject  to  a  higher  Power, 
in  order  that  there  may  be  early  awakened  in  his  mind  the  con- 
ception of  a  moral  order,  to  whose  authority  he  will  in  time 
have  to  submit.  All  the  qualities  of  a  child  may,  if  not  care- 
fully watched,  pass  over  into  their  opposites  and  degenerate 
into  faults. 

The  first  characteristic  with  which  education  has  to  contend 
is  self-will.  Without  a  certain  amount  of  self-will  the  character 
would  never  develop  itself ;  for  it  is  precisely  out  of  self-will, 
i.e.,  one's  own  will,  that  the  resolution,  the  assertion  of  one's  own 
personality  and  opinion,  in  short,  all  that  makes  of  human 
beings  morally  responsible  men  and  women,  is  developed. 

The  child's  self-will  is  the  perverted  expression  of  his  grow- 
ing feeling  of  personality.  This  feeling  is  roused  when  some- 
thing contrary  happens  to  it,  or  something  that  it  wants  is 
denied  to  it.  Now  if  this  something  be  a  thing  that  he  is  justified 
in  wanting,  something  that  has  to  do  with  a  necessity  of  his 
preservation  or  development,  the  child  is  in  the  right ;  but  if  he 
simply  will  not  submit  to  some  justifiable  demand  of  his  elders, 
then  he  is  in  the  wrong,  and  must  not  be  listened  to.  For 
instance,  a  child  cries  in  its  cradle  for  food,  or  from  an  instinct 
of  cleanliness,  or  any  other  justifiable  prompting  of  its  nature, 
and  is  not  attended  to,  and  this  neglect  excites  him  to  anger, 
and  his  screaming  is  set  down  to  self-will.  In  such  a  case  the 
mother  or  nurse  is  to  blame.  But  if  a  child  simply  cries  when- 
ever it  wants  to  be  taken  out  of  its  cradle,  it  must  not  always 
be  humoured  ;  so  that  its  will  or  determination' may  notdegene- 
I'ate  into  obstinacy  or  wilfulness.     True,  the  child  may  be  said 


The  Child's  First  Relations  to  Mankind.  137 


to  be  justified  in  requiring  that  which  is  agreeable  to  it,  and 
wishing  to  get  rid  of  what  is  disagreeable  ;  as,  for  instance,  lying 
alone  and  unoccupied  in  its  cradle.  But  then  some  occupation 
should  be  provided  for  it  in  its  cradle,  and  thus  the  reasonable 
part  of  its  demand  be  satisfied. 

It  is  most  essential  that  children  should  learn  from  the  very 
beginning  to  submit  to  the  conditions  of  life,  and  even  some- 
times to  do  without  what  they  are  justified  in  wishing  for,  and 
to  bear  what  is  unpleasant  to  them  for  the  sake  of  others ;  they 
must  be  trained  from  their  cradles  to  subordinate  the  individual 
will  to  ^he  community,  and  to  sacrifice  self  out  of  love  to 
others.  But  these  exercises  in  self-denial  must  not  at  first 
extend  to  giving  up  anything  really  necessary  to  them,  and 
must  never  last  too  long. 

There  is  no  more  difficult  task  in  education  than  to  strike 
the  right  balance  in  this  matter,  on  which  the  whole  struggle 
of  human  life  turns ;  avoidance  of  all  that  is  disagreeable,  of 
all  pain  and  sorrow,  and  striving  after  well-being  and  happiness, 
are  the  two  opposite  forces  by  means  of  which  Providence  works 
out  our  whole  development.  Here,  too,  love,  the  highest 
princij)le  of  moraJity,  is  the  only  one  that  can  lead  in  the  right 
direction.  Let  children  learn  through  love  to  give  up  their  own 
will  to  others  ;  this  is  the  only  right  sort  of  obedience  and  that 
which  arouses  energy  for  good,  whereas  obedience  from  fear 
produces  cowardice.  The  obedience  of  love  begets  reverence,  the 
noble  desire  not  to  grieve  parents  or  others  who  are  beloved, 
and  from  it  there  will  spring  later  a  holy  fear  and  reverence  of 
God. 

In  training  childi-en  to  obey,  very  little  distinction  is  made 
between  right  and  wrong  obedience.  The  child's  will  is  too 
often  cowed  instead  of  being  guided  and  directed  towards  right ; 
and  this  is  the  reason  why  so  few  human  beings  attain  that 
true  moral  independence  without  which  the  highest  kind  of 
freedom,  that  of  the  virtuous  man  who  rules  himself,  is  in.^jos- 
sible,  and  the  inner  kernel  of  the  character  can  never  fully 
unfold  itself. 

Frobel  lays  down  the  following  genei*al  rules.  To  satisfy-  the 
child's  demands  as  much  as  possible  ;   to  be  wisely  indulgent ; 


138  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

not  to  command  and  forbid  unreasonably  ;  and  to  allow  tbe 
child,  as  far  as  it  can  do  so  without  injury,  to  teach  itself  by- 
its,  own  experiences. 

It  would  not  be  nearly  so  difficult  to  make  children  obedient 
if  people  began  in  earliest  childhcx>d,  and  set  to  work  in  the 
right  way.  Before  egotistic  inclinations,  seltish  impulses  and 
passions  have  yet  been  aroused  and  become  obstacles  in  the 
way,  submission  to  law,  which  presents  itself  in  the  guise  of 
parental  authority,  is  not  difficult  to  the  child  if  only  he  has 
been  inspired  with  a  sense  that  nothing  but  his  welfare  and 
happiness  are  thought  of. 

This  applies  also  to  animals,  who  know  at  once  whether 
harm  or  good  is  meant  them.  One  glance  at  the  human  eye 
is  enough  to  inspire  the  animal  and  the  little  child  with  con- 
fidence or  distrust.  It  is  only  by  patience  and  love  that 
animals  can  be  trained,  not  by  commanding  and  forbidding ; 
and  yet  this  latter  plan  is  the  one  chiefly  adopted  vvitli  young 
children,  in  spite  of  the  proverb  which  says,  "  Das  verbot  nur 
reizt."  These  then  are  the  chief  things  to  be  remembered  :  That 
love  begets  confidence ;  that  only  what  is  right  and  wholesome 
should  be  required  of  children  ;  that  all  compulsion  slionld  be 
avoided  from  the  beginning  ;  that  they  should  never  be  taxed 
beyond  their  strength,  and  that  everything  that  is  disagreeable 
to  them  should  as  far  as  possible  be  averted  from  them. 

As  they  grow  older,  more  and  more  may  by  degi'ees  be  exacted 
from  them,  and  sometimes  even  that  which  for  the  moment  is. 
difficult  and  disagreeable,  for  love  and  trust  will  submit  ])lindly 
and  conquer  the  individual  will. 

And  as  it  is  only  in  childhood  that  a  firm  basis  of  true  obedi- 
ence can  be  laid,  so  is  it  with  all  virtues  which  depend  chieflv 
on  the  formation  of  good  habits  and  experience  of  theii*  bene- 
ficial consequences.  It  is  therefore  of  the  greatest  importance 
that  this  first  period  of  childhood  should  be  understood  in  its 
minutest  details  and  treated  accordingly. 

Another  critical  moment  in  the  development  of  children,  and 
one  which  the  "  Mutter  u.  Koselieder  "  takes  note  of,  is  vN'heri 
they  first  begin  to  observe  that  people  aie   talking  a))out  tliem 


The  Child's  First  Relations  to  Mankind.         139* 


and  criticizing  them.  Without  the  desire  to  gain  the  love 
and  approval  of  others,  the  human  being  would  be  deprived 
of  his  strongest  stimulus  in  his  endeavours  after  the  good 
and  the  beautiful.  This  desire  kindles  in  the  child  as  soon  as 
he  arrives  at  a  distinct  perception  of  his  own  personality.  He 
then  begins  to  wish  to  be  loved  and  praised  by  others,  and  it 
depends  on  the  right  or  wrong  guidance  of  this  instinct  whether- 
it  will  develop  into  proper  love  and  reverence,  or  into  vanity 
and  ambition. 

In  the  games  "  The  Riders  and  the  Good  Child,"  and  "  The 
Riders  and  the  Sulky  Child,"  Frobel  endeavours  to  teach  mothers- 
the  right  way  of  dealing  in  this  respect,  by  making  the  riders 
delighted  with  the  good  child,  Avliile  they  leave  the  sulky  one 
behind.  Children  must  be  made  to  feel  that  they  are  loved 
for  their  good  qualities,  and  not  for  their  outward  appearance. - 
They  are  too  apt  to  hear  themselves  praised  as  the  "pretty 
child,"  the  "  beautiful  child  ;"  to  have  their  clothes  admired,  &c.. 
The  attention  of  many  mothers  is  exclusively  taken  up  with 
their  children's  dress.  "  What  will  people  say  if  you  make- 
your  frock  dirty,  crumple  your  hat?"  and  so  forth,  is  the^ 
ordinary  talk  of  nurses.  Thus  the  child  grows  up  with  the 
idea  that  people  pay  more  attention  to  its  outward  person,  and 
value  it  more  for  this  than  for  its  real  merits.  Outward  appear- 
ance is,  indeed,  the  standard  of  the  many.  Whatever  the 
children  see  their  parents  value  or  despise,  they  will  value  or 
<lespise  themselves. 

If  ever  a  time  is  to  come  when  appearance  shall  no  longer 
rule  the  world,  or  at  any  rate  when  reality  shall  have  a  humble 
place  by  its  side,  children  must  be  supplied  with  a  proper - 
standard  at  the  beginning  of  life.  Pride,  vanity  and  bragging, 
which  beget  folly  and  crimes  of  every  kind,  originate  in  the 
early  perversion  of  noble  impulses  which  were  implanted  by  the 
Creator  for  the  purpose  of  striving  after  good.  And  as  succeed- 
ing generations  inherit  from  each  other  sins  and  iniquities,  so 
the  virtues  that  have  been  cultivated  in  humanity,  and  whose 
germs  lie  in  the  first  motions  of  the  child's  soul,  may  also- 
be  ti'ansmitted.  The  whole  problem  of  the  development  of 
humanity  consists  in  passing  from  semblance  to  reality. 


V^  OF  THB*^ 


'UlTI7BRSlTtr^ 


140  A   New  Method  of  Education. 

The  first  step  to  moral  development  must  thus  be  the 
cultivation  of  the  senses.  Whether  these  become  ministering 
organs  to  the  spirit  or  slaves  to  sensual  enjoyments  will  to  a 
great  extent  be  decided  in  childhood. 

As  the  sense  of  taste  is  the  first  which  pronounces  itself  in 
the  child,  so  his  first  desires  ai'e  wont  to  be  associated  with 
eating.  Most  children  are  little  epicures,  and  it  would  be 
unnatural  if  they  were  indifferent  to  this  earliest  pleasuie 
which  their  senses  afford  them  ;  but  it  is  owing  to  bad  bringing 
up  that  so  many  children  are  remarkable  for  gi*eediness,  dainti- 
ness, and  excessive  love  of  eating  and  drinking. 

There  is  only  one  way  of  opposing  a  barriei*  against  low 
desires,  and  that  is  by  developing  a  capacity  for  higher  enjoy- 
ments. We  do  not  mean  to  say  that  coarse  desires  and  passions 
can  be  entirely  rooted  out  by  following  Frobel's  system,  but 
that  the  physical  organs  will  in  this  way  be  directed  to  the 
utmost  towards  spiritual  things,  and  the  higher  part  of  human 
nature  made  to  counteract  the  lower — the  animal.  The  soon€>r 
this  work  is  begun,  the  more  completely  will  it  be  carried  out. 
Hence  Frobel  requires  of  mothers  that  they  should  rightly 
discipline  their  children's  senses. 

He  recommends,  for  instance,  that  when  children  are  at  their 
meals  little  songs  should  be  sung  to  them,  or  else  that  some 
anima],  such  as  a  dog  or  bird,  should  be  at  hand  for  them  to  feed, 
in  order  that  the  work  of  the  palate  may  not  engage  their  whole 
attention.  He  would  also  have  children  encouraged  in  the 
practice  of  giving  part  of  their  food  to  othei's  instead  of  enjoy- 
ing it  all  to  themselves.  But  then  what  is  offered  by  the  child 
must  really  be  taken  if  selfishness  is  to  be  counteracted,  or  he 
will  soon  find  out  that  his  sacrifices  are  only  pretended  ones. 
These  distractions  must  not,  however,  be  great  enough  to 
deprive  the  child  of  all  enjoyment  of  its  food,  for  that  would 
have  an  injurious  effect  on  the  health. 

This  sense  of  taste  must,  moreover,  to  a  certain  extent  be 
cultivated,  for  all  the  senses  are  given  by  the  Creator  for  a 
distinct  purpose,  and  require  development,  or  cultivation,  in 
order  that  they  may  fulfil  this  purpose. 

The  child  a<',quires  its  first  capacity  for  distinguishing,  through 


The  ChiliTs  First  Relations  to  Mankind.  141 


the  sense  of  taste ;  it  is  in  this  way  that  it  first  becomes  in  a 
measure  conscious  of  what  is  pleasant  or  unpleasant,  beautiful 
or  ugly.  And  here,  as  everywhere,  we  find  an  analogy  between 
the  world  of  the  senses  and  that  of  the  spirit.  Frobel  points 
out  how  the  word  taste  not  only  describes  the  functions  of  the 
palate  but  also  the  result  of  a  cultivated  sense  of  beauty,  and 
thus  connects  the  two  facts  together.  The  child  exercises  the 
power  of  comparison  when  it  notices  the  differences  in  the  taste 
of  food,  and  if  later  he  is  to  become  possessed  of  taste  in  its  sense 
of  a  feeling  for  the  beautiful,  he  must  learn  also  to  distinguish 
between  the  more  or  less  beautiful  and  harmonious,  the  suitable 
and  the  non-suitable  ;  must  be  taught  to  shade  and  group 
together  colours,  to  weigh  and  measure  sizes  and  forms  against 
one  another,  and  so  forth.  Following  out  the  idea  that  all  and 
everything  may  be  referred  back  to  one  fundamental  principle, 
Frobel  traces  taste  in  its  esthetic  sense  to  the  development  in 
the  child  of  the  taste  for  food,  and  explains  in  this  w^ay  the  fact 
of  their  common  appellation.  It  need  scarcely  be  said  that 
it  is  only  the  earliest  germ  of  aesthetic  culture  that  we  are 
here  alluding  to,  and  that  for  the  development  of  the  complete 
fruit,  training  of  the  most  diverse  kind  is  needed. 

One  of  the  little  songs  in  the  "  Mutter  u.  Koselieder  "  is  called 
the  "Schmeck-Liedchen"  (Tasting-song),  and  directs  the  child's 
attention  to  the  different  tastes  of  different  fruits — the  sweet- 
ness of  cherries  as  opposed  to  the  acidness  of  currai)L>;  and 
apples,  &c. 

Owing  to  the  misunderstanding  of  much  that  Frobel  has 
written  and  said,  it  has  been  occasionally  supposed  that  he 
assumed  nothing  but  good  qualities  in  every  child.  If  this 
were  the  case,  what  need  would  there  be  for  education  ?  All 
the  normal  faculties  and  dispositions  would  unfold  of  themselves 
without  disturbance.  Any  one  who,  like  Frobel,  has  spent  his 
whole  life  in  observing  children  from  their  very  birth,  cannot 
be  blind  to  the  great  differences  which  are  seen  even  in  the 
youngest  children — differences  not  only  of  individual  endow- 
ment but  of  impulses  and  inclinations.  Symptoms  of  the 
degeneration  of  naturally  right  instincts  show  themselves  even 
at   the  earliest  age.     It  is  not  only  in  the  families    of  great 


4  42  A  New  Method  of  Educaiiofi. 

criminals  that  the  heritage  of  evil  is  transmitted  from  fathers 
to  children  :  the  proverb  "  The  apple  does  not  fall  far  from  the 
apple-tree,"*  will  bear  universal  application. 

Care  must,  however,  be  taken  to  distinguish  between  what- 
ever in  the  original  dispositions  is  broadly  and  universally 
human — according  to  the  divine  conception  of  humanity — and 
the  individual  characteristics  of  generations  and  individuals 
which  appear  in  the  course  of  the  development  of  mankind,  and 
whose  purpose  is  never  far  to  seek. 

For  the  transformation  of  the  savage  or  the  natural  man 
into  a  cultivated  being,  there  must  of  necessity  be  a 
wrestling  with  inborn  dispositions.  Without  obstacles  which 
•call  forth  exertion  moral  development  is  unthinkable.  At 
present,  however,  very  little  is  done  to  facilitate  this  struggle 
by  exercising  the  moral  forces  in  the  first  period  of  existence, 
as  Frobel  recommends,  by  seeing  to  it  that  the  play  of  children, 
while  satisfying  in  a  natural  manner  their  childish  require- 
ments, also  conduces  to  their  moral  well-being  and  acts  as  a 
pleasant  stimulus  to  their  whole  nature.  If  happiness  be 
secured  to  them  through  good  means — through  the  right  use  of 
their  powers — the  utmost  possible  will  have  been  done  to  prevent 
their  seeking  it  in  wrong  ways.  Unused  powers  are  almost  in- 
variably the  first  cause  of  evil. 

The  physical  nature  should  not  be  kept  caged  and  chained 
down  like  a  wild  beast,  but  should  be  ennobled  by  worthy 
culture.  Passions  kept  down  by  force  and  terror  will  only 
break  forth  with  greater  ferocity  when  free  scope  is  allowed 
them,  like  a  tiger  escaping  from  its  cage.  Passion  is  force  un- 
controlled and  not  directed  to  its  proper  object ;  and  this  force 
ought  not  to  be  suppressed,  but  so  ruled  and  disciplined  as  to 
be  converted  into  energy  for  good.  In  the  human  organism 
nothing  can  be  assumed  to  serve  unconditionally  and  of  neces- 
sity a  bad  or  unlawful  purpose.  Where  this  is  the  case  it  is  the 
result  of  some  abuse,  and  to  prevent  such  abuses  as  much  as 
possible  is  the  problem  in  question.  The  original  intention  of 
all  the  powers  and  dispositions  implanted  by  the  Creator  can 
only  be  to  bring  about  good  in  one  way  or  another.  But  if  it 
*  **  Der  Apfel  fUllt  nicht  weit  vom  Stamm." 


The  Child's  First  Relations  to  Mankind.         1 43 

is  the  destiny  of  the  human  being  to  attain  to  moral  freedom, 
there  must  of  necessity  be  room  for  him  to  err,  for  the  choice 
between  good  and  evil  must  be  left  to  him.  Were  we  so  con- 
stituted that  we  must  of  necessity  choose  what  is  good,  we 
should  be  no  better  than  machines.  Only  free  choice,  and  the 
experience  of  the  consequences  resulting  from  our  choice,  can 
raise  us  to  the  dignity  of  conscious  existence,  self-knowledge, 
and  moral  freedom. 

Faith  in  the  final  triumph  of  good  over  evil  under  God's 
guiding  providence  in  the  world's  development — this  was  Frobel's 
philosophy,  as  it  was  that  of  Herder,  as  it  was  and  still  is  the 
philosophy  of  thousands  of  other  thinkers. 

When  the  child  has  become  thoroughly  at  home  in  his 
immediate  surroundings,  his  notice  will  begin  to  be  attracted 
by  the  industrial  life  going  on  around  him — by  the  different 
pursuits  of  handicraftsmen.  Many  of  the  hand-games  with  which 
he  will  already  have  grown  familiar,  are  based  on  the  move- 
ments and  turns  of  the  hand  customary  in  these  occupations. 
The  child  who  has  seen  the  various  processes  of  planing,  saw- 
ing, threshing,  grinding,  &c.,  represented  in  his  games,  will 
observe  them  in  real  life  much  earlier  and  with  far  greater 
interest  than  other  children  who  have  never  had  their  attention 
drawn  to  them. 

The  child  ought  to  be  initiated  into  the  different  functions  of 
human  life,  and  therefore,  of  course,  into  manual  labour  of 
different  kinds.  The  imitation  of  the  movements  of  the  hand 
in  different  kinds  of  work  may  be  said  to  be  the  child's  own 
first  work,  and  at  any  rate  trains  his  principal  instrument  of 
work — viz.,  his  hand.  These  gymnastics  repeated,  every  day  at 
fixed  times,  may  also  be  treated  as  the  first  little  duties  of  the 
child,  and  so  form  the  introduction  to  later  more  serious 
duties,  and  the  foundation  of  moral  culture. 

The  imitative  games  given  in  the  "  Mutter  u.  Koselieder  " 
have  for  their  object  to  draw  the  attention  of  children  to  the 
different  qualities  of  things,  and  especially  to  the  pursuits  of 
human  life. 

In  the  game  called  "  The  Joiner,"  for    instance  (where  the 


144  A  Netv  Method  of  Education. 


movemeut  of  the  hand  represents  the  action  of  planing)  the 
child's  attention  is  drawn  to  the  high  and  low  sounds  produced 
in-  planing,  by  the  alternate  long  and  short  drawing  out  of 
the  plane.  The  observation  of  this  and  similar  facts  will  make 
it  easier  afterwards  to  understand  the  general  fact  that  form 
and  sound,  and  time  and  space,  correspond  to  one  another. 

(A  quick  short  movement  produces  high  sharp  tones ;  a 
movement  slowly  drawn  out,  low  deep  ones.) 

A  variety  of  examples  of  long  and  short,  of  great  and  little 
objects,  of  longer  and  shorter  intervals  of  time  and  the 
different  tones  connected  with  them,  will  gradually  prepare 
the  child's  mind  for  the  easier  apprehension  of  this  idea. 

The  motto  to  this  game  is : 

"  That  all  things  speak  a  language  of  their  own, 
The  child  right  soon  discovers  : 
But  little  heed  we  what  is  quickly  known  : 
Lay  this  to  heart,  ye  mothers." 

It  is  only  by  means  of  contrasts,  or  distinctly  pronounced  differ- 
ences, that  children  can  learn  to  know  things  individually,  and 
distinguish  or  compare  them.  In  the  example  cited  above,  the 
long  and  short  sticks  used  by  the  joiner  serve  as  illustrations 
of  the  law  of  contrasts,  just  as  a  similar  illustration  is  afforded 
by  the  measure  between  long  and  high  notes  of  music.  But 
Frobel  does  not  leave  these  opposites  or  extremes  isolated,  and 
expect  the  child  to  fill  up  the  space  between  :  the  long  and  short 
sticks  are  connected  together  by  others  of  intermediate  sizes,. 
and  the  same  with  the  high  and  low  tones  of  music. 

This  universal  principle,  the  constant  application  of  which  is^ 
the  kernel  of  Ftobel's  method,  is  thus  brought  before  children 
in  its  simplest  manifestation.  If,  in  their  earliest  years,  they 
have  already  gained  some  idea — albeit,  a  very  limited  one — - 
of  the  law  of  oy)posites  and  their  I'econciliation  through  the 
observation  of  the  dift'erent  properties  of  things,  the  same  law 
will  be  discovered  by  them  later  in  moral  qualities.  As,  for 
instance,  the  storj-  of  David  and  Goliath,  in  which  the  conquest 
of  skill  and  mental  culture  over  mere  rude  strength  is  de- 
scribed, being  connected  with  the  game  of  "  The  Joiner,"  the 
contrast  between  mental  and  physical  greatness  is  exhibited^ 


The  Child's  First  Relations  to  Mankind.         145 

Tlie  hand-game  called  "  The  Carpenter  "  (in  which  the  posi- 
tion of  the  hands  represents  a  wooden  house  with  a  balcony) 
is  used  by  Frobel  to  teach  mothers  to  make  their  children's 
home  dear  and  sweet  to  them  by  the  love  and  happiness 
which  they  find  in  it ;  whatever  the  child  experiences  in  its 
parents'  house,  whether  love  and  concord,  or  quarrelling  and 


aisagreement,  that  will  it  bring  to  its  own  hearth.  Slere,  in 
the  home  of  childhood,  will  the  foundation  be  laid  either  for 
love  of  home  and  domestic  life,  or  of  that  craving  for  dissipa- 
tion which  seeks  its  satisfaction  outside  the  home.  But  here, 
too,  may  that  family  egotism  be  developed  which  is  a  hindrance 
to  the  universal  love  of  humanity.  It  is  one  of  the  most 
sacred  duties  of  parents,  to  represent  in  miniature,  through  the 
divinely-ordained  organization  of  the  household  and  family 
life,  a  picture  of  the  organization  of  the  State  and  of  society, 
into  which  the  citizen  should  carry  the  lessons  learnt  in  his 
home.  The  lowliest  hut  may  be  a  temple  of  humanity  if  the 
different  members  of  the  family  constitute  a  true  human 
organism,  standing  in  living  relations  to  the  community  and 
the  nation.  Education  of  the  right  sort  will  elevate  the 
instinctive  love  of  kindred  into  the  spiritual  love  of  humanity 
— of  humanity  in  God.  But  it  is  only  the  sacred  fire  on  the 
altar  of  the  home  that  can  kindle  this  holy  flame  in  the  child's 
heart. 

One  of  the  greatest  and  most  universal  delights  of  children 
is  to  construct  for  themselves  a  habitation  of  some  sort,  either 
in  the  garden  or  indoors,  where  chairs  have  generally  to  serve 
iheir  purpose.     Instinct  leads  them,  as  it  does  all  animals,  to 

u 


14^  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

procure  shelter  and  protection  for  their  persons,  individual, 
outward  self-existence  and  independence.  When  they  have 
installed  themselves  in  a  comer  with  a  few  bits  of  furniture  of 
any  sort,  they  delight  in  fancying  themselves  alone  in  their 
own  dominion.  The  instinct  of  habitation  in  animals  which 
prompts  the  bird,  on  its  return  in  the  spring,  to  seek  out  its 
old  nest,  becomes,  in  the  human  being,  the  love  of  home,  out 
of  which  sentiment  springs  the  love  of  country. 

Frobel  says  :  "  The  whole  after-life  of  the  human  being,  with 
all  its  deep  significance,  passes  in  dim  shadowy  presentiments 
through  the  child's  soul.  But  the  child  himself  does  not  under- 
stand the  importance  of  these  presentiments,  these  dim  strivings 
and  forebodings,  and  they  are  seldom  noticed  or  attended  to  by 
the  grown-up  people  who  surround  him.  What  a  change  there 
would  be  in  all  the  conditions  of  life,  of  children,  of  young 
people,  of  humanity  in  general,  if  only  these  warning  voices 
were  listened  for  and  encouraged  in  early  childhood,  and 
apprehended  in  youth  in  their  highest  meaning,  and  welcomed 
as  guardian  angels. 

Were  this  the  case  human  beings  would  certainly  understand 
each  other  better,  and,  therefore,  love  each  other  more  through- 
out life,  and  hundreds  of  the  best  and  ablest  people  would  not 
live  and  die  misunderstood. 

THE  COAL  DIGGERS. 


Deep  in  the  mine  below  the  ground, 
The  collier  men  and  boys  are  found  ; 
With  strength  and  skill  they  work  away, 
To  bring  the  coal  to  the  light  of  day. 


The  Child  *s  First  Relations  to  Mankind.         147 

They  carry  it  up  that  others  may  bum  it, 

And  the  smith  at  his  forge  to  his  use  will  turn  it. 

For  how  should  we  get  a  knife,  spoon,  or  fork, 

If  these  honest  coal  diggers  weren't  willing  to  work  f 

With  much  care  and  labour  tbey  dig  the  coal  out, 

And  their  faces  grow  black  as  they  turn  it  about. 

Come,  child,  let  us  give  these  good  miners  a  greeting. 

For  spoons  and  for  forks  which  we  use  for  our  eating ; 

And  though  with  their  labour  their  faces  are  black, 

Their  hearts  no  true  goodness  or  kindness  do  lack.  * 

A.  O. 

This  song  is  specially  intended  to  teach,  the  value  of  manual 
labour,  and  therefore  also  the  importance  of  the  hand.  Chil- 
dren should  learn  to  honour  this  member,  which  is  a  distinctive 
mark  of  the  human  being,  as  a  valuable  gift  of  God,  and  to 
take  care  of  and  cultivate  it  accordingly ;  and  the  mothers  should 
inspire  them  with  reverence  for  the  roughest  and  dirtiest  work 
as  being  necessary  for  human  society.  She  should  teach  them 
to  respect  human  beings  of  every  condition,  even  the  lowest ;  if 
they  are  faithfully  fulfilling  their  duties ;  and  not,  as  is  so  often 
done,  represent  chimney-sweeps,  colliers,  or  any  other  labourers 
who  become  blackened  by  their  work,  as  objects  of  terror  and 
disgust. 

It  has  been  reserved  to  our  age  to  ennoble  work,  and  to  show 
that  it  is  not  a  disagreeable  necessity  but  an  essential  condition 
of  human  life  and  dignity,  and  thus  give  the  lie  to  the 
prejudice  which  for  centuries  has  governed  the  world,  viz.,  that 
work — at  any  rate  rough,  bread-winning  work — is  a  disgrace ; 
and  idleness,  the  true  sign  of  nobility  and  the  happy  privilege 
of  the  upper  classes. 

But  Education  has  a  nobler  work  before  her  than  even  to 
counteract  this  prejudice — which,  moreover,  has  already  in 
part  been  overcome ;  she  has  so  to  train  the  rising  generation 
that  they  may  be  able  to  turn  the  mighty  industrial  impulse  of 
the  present  day  to  a  higher  and  worthier  end  than  mere  material 
gain  and  material  happiness.  With  the  increase  of  wealth, 
leisure,  and  intellectual  capacity,  there  should  be  a  widening  of 

*  The  "Charcoal  Burners"  not  being  an  English  institution,  I  ventured  to 
alter  the  song.— A.  G. 

L  2 


148  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

the  spiritual  horizon  and  a  growth  of  moral  power.  Precisely 
hero,  where  lies  the  cause  of  so  much  of  the  immorality  of 
our  day,  may  be  found  also  the  most  effectual  lever  for  the 
upraising  of  mankind  ;  and  it  cannot  be  set  working  too  soon. 

How  are  greater  honesty  and  uprightness  ever  to  be  infused 
into  trade  and  commerce  if,  from  their  very  cradles,  the  children 
of  the  people  not  only  hear  worldly  gain  and.  prosperity  held 
up  as  the  highest  attainable  end  of  existence,  but  are  even  led 
on  by  their  parents,  either  by  example  or  by  direct  injunctions, 
to  trickery  and  fraud  of  every  sort  ?  The  idealism  which  has 
always  been  considered  the  special  characteristic  of  Germany, 
and  has  been  held  to  extend  even  to  a  fault,  is  not  found  there  in 
over-abundance  now-a-days  in  any  class  of  society — so  thoroughly 
has  the  mercantile  spirit  spread  everywhere.  Striving  after  the 
real^  in  the  most  material  form,  fills  up  the  whole  existence  of 
the  majority  of  people,  and  leaves  no  room  for  any  higher  aim. 

Two  of  the  hand-games  which  represent  a  MarJd-hude 
(Market-booth)  afford  an  example  of  how  the  child's  attention 
may  be  directed  at  an  early  age  to  the  negotiations  of  trade. 
It  is  a  bad  plan  to  encourage  children  to  expect  that  whenever 
they  are  taken  into  a  shop  something  will  be  bought  for  them ; 
greed  of  possession  is  apt  to  be  awakened  in  them  in  this 
manner.  They  should  be  allowed  to  look  round  at  and  admire 
all  the  various  products  of  human  art  and  industry,  and,  if  any- 
thing does  fall  to  their  own  share,  it  should  be  pointed  out  to 
them  how  many  different  pairs  of  hands,  and  what  a  variety  of 
industrial  machinery,  must  have  been  called  into  play  for  the 
production  even  of  a  single  article ;  and  how  all  human  labour* 
fit  into  each  other  and  combine  together  to  produce  the  requi- 
sites of  material  existence.  Every  object  which  calls  forth  their 
admiration  may  be  made  the  occasion  of  representing  the  dif- 
ferent labours  of  human  beings  for  one  another  as  so  many  signs 
of  mutual  love — which,  at  any  rate,  is  the  ideal  side  of  com- 
merce. And  with  this  idea  is  associated  the  duty  of  preparing 
the  child  to  take,  one  day,  its  own  share  in  the  common  work 
of  humanity. 

One  of  the  greatest  educational  problems  of  the  day  consists, 
undoubtedly,  in  finding  out  the  right  means  of    welding  the- 


TJie  Child's  First  Relatioits  to  Mankind.         149 

material  life  of  every-day  reality  with  the  higher,  spiritual 
aims  which  stretch  out  beyond  the  short  span  of  human  exist- 
ence. 

We  are  approaching  an  age  in  which  physical  and  mental 
work  will  no  longer  go  on  side  by  side  in  complete  separation, 
but  will  be  for  each  individual  more  or  less  closely  bound 
together.  Manual  labour  requires,  every  day,  more  and  more 
culture  and  insight  of  mind ;  science  is  daily  entering  into  more 
intimate  fellowship  with  technical  and  industrial  works.  Per- 
fect health  of  body,  mind,  and  spirit  is  only  conceivable  if  all 
the  powers  and  organs  are  set  in  activity,  and  a  three-fold  equal 
division  of  exertion  is  therefore  necessary.  The  precise  mode 
in  which  this  reform  is  to  be  carried  out  matters  little,  the 
important  thing  is  that  the  young  generation  be  fully  prepared 
to  meet  this  and  every  other  demand  made  by  the  regenerating 
ideas  of  the  present  and  the  future. 

One  of  the  most  effectual  means  of  calling  the  ideal  side  of 
human  nature  into  play  is  early  artistic  culture ;  and  now-a-days, 
when  art  and  industry  may  be  almost  said  to  be  as  twin  sisters, 
a-  certain  amount  of  this  culture  is  necessary  for  all  classes. 
There  are  few  trades,  for  instance,  that  do  not  require  some 
knowledge  of  drawing.  Music,  too,  is  penetrating  more  and 
more  into  all  classes.  Bat  in  these,  as  in  all  other  branches  of 
human  culture,  the  first  grounding  is  still  very  deficient,  and  the 
immense  amount  of  time  consequently  required  in  after  years 
in  order  to  arrive  at  even  a  small  degree  of  proficiency,  shuts 
out  many,  even  among  the  gifted,  from  these  arts. 

In  the  "  Mutter  u.  Koselieder,"  we  find  sign-posts  pointing  in 
this  direction  also. 

The  Finger  Pianoforte 

is  the  name  of  one  of  the  little  hand-exercises  in  which  the 
fingers  moving  up  and  down  represent  the  notes  of  the  piano, 
and  the  accompanying  voice  gives  the  scale  and  exercises  on  the 
different  intervals. 

Motto  :     "  Baby  fain  would  catch  the  sound 
Of  the  lovely  things  around, 


150  A  New  Method  of  Education. 


For  the  spirit  oft  can  hear 
Sounds  uncaught  by  mortal  ear. 
Early  teach  thy  darling  this, 
Wouldst  thou  give  him  joy  and  bliss." 

A.G. 

SONG. 

Now  a  carol  gay, 

We  on  our  fingers  play  ; 

As  each  finger  down  we  press, 

Hear  the  tone  of  loveliness. 


1    2    3    4    .5 

La,  la,  la,  la,  la; 

5     4    3    2    1 
La,  la,  la,  la,  la. 

12    3    4 
La,  la,  la,  la  ; 

2    3    4    5 
La,  la,  la,  la  : 

5    4    3    2 

;  La,  la,  la,  la  ; 

4    3    2    1 
La,  la,  la,  la  ; 

5    3      2        12       3       2 
Bahy's  hands  are  small  and  weak  ; 

4    2      12     3        4       3 
'Tis  80  small  it  scarce  can  speak : 

2    2     4     3     5      4     3 
Yet  it  always  loves  to  play, 

2    3        4      2      13  2     1 
Singing  songs  the  live-long  day. 

A.  G. 

Tn  addition  to  the  simple  songs  whicli  serve  to  awaken  and 
cultivate  the  sense  of  hearing  from  the  very  beginning  of  life, 
Frobel  also  recommends  little  glass  harmonicas  on  which  chords 
and  simple  melodies  may  be  played  to  children.  The  chief 
thing  always  to  bear  in  mind  is,  that  all  impressions  should  be 
gentle  and  gradual,  and  that  no  discordant  noisy  sounds  should 
startle  the  sensitive  young  organs.  For  this  reason,  the  har- 
monicas used  by  Fiobel  are  constructed  in  such  a  manner  that 
they  produce  soft  tones.  The  noisy  jingling  and  clapping  of 
keys  and  other  articles  with  which  children  are  wont  to  be 
amused  in  the  nursery,  does  not  certainly  tend  to  the  develop- 

*  The  numbers  represent  the  notes  and  their  intervals. 


The  Child's  First  Relations  to  Mankind.         151 

ment  of  a  musical  ear.  The  obnoxions  articles  known  as  cliil- 
dren's  rattles  might  also  with  advantage  be  replaced  by  some 
more  melodious  instrument. 

Children  are  generally  very  fond  themselves  of  trying  the  sounds 
of  different  objects,  and  it  is  therefore  a  good  plan  to  produce 
melodious  notes  for  them  with  all  sorts  of  objects,  and  to  draw 
their  attention  to  the  different  qualities  of  sound  which  different 
materials  produce.  A  number  of  exercises  for  the  ear,  on  pieces 
of  metal  and  other  materials,  have  already  been  introduced  into 
schools  for  little  children  with  great  success. 

But  here  again  the  first  music  lessons  should  be  learnt  from 
Nature.  In  this  great  school  the  child  should  be  encouraged  to 
listen  to  the  rustling  of  the  wind  and  water,  the  twittering  of 
the  birds,  the  buzzing  of  the  insects.  In  one  of  the  illustrations 
in  the  "  Mutter  u.  Koselieder  "  may  be  seen  in  close  proximity 
to  a  player  seated  at  the  pianoforte,  a  bird  singing  in  a  cage, 
corn  swayed  by  the  wind,  a  humming  beetle,  and  a  buzzing  bee. 
One  of  the  greatest  singers  of  modern  times  (Jenny  Lind)  relates 
that  her  musical  talent  first  showed  itself,  when  she  was  only 
four  years  old,  by  her  habit  of  sitting  for  hours  at  a  time,  as  if 
chained  to  the  ground,  imitating  all  the  sounds  of  Nature  which 
she  heard  around  her.  In  later  years  she  could  still  reproduce 
them  all,  down  to  the  buzzing  of  gnats  and  flies,  with  the 
greatest  perfection.  Humanity,  in  like  manner,  made  its  first 
musical  studies  in  the  school  of  Nature,  and  the  first  pipe  con- 
structed of  reeds  served  also  to  imitate  the  sounds  of  Nature. 

By  the  connection  of  counting  with  musical  notes  the  child 
soon  learns  to  perceive  the  analogy  between  number  and  sound, 
and  the  regularity  and  system  of  all  movement  forces  itself  on 
him,  even  if  only  as  an  indirect  impression. 

But  though  Frobel  would  have  children  surrounded  as  much 
as  possible  by  an  atmosphere  of  music  and  harmony,  it  is  very 
far  from  his  ideas  to  make  of  them  precocious  virtuosos,  or  to 
give  them  a  one-sided  musical  education,  such  as  hundreds  of 
children  are  now-a-days  plagued  with,  to  the  detriment  of  the 
rest  of  their  development. 

Song  must  precede  instrumental  music,  as  coming  more  easily 
and  naturally  to  the  child.     The    learning  of  notes,  which  is 


152  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

always  a  torment  to  cliildren,  can  be  got  over  witliout  any 
trouble,  and  even  in  play,  by  tlie  use  of  Frobel's  method.  This 
consists  in  making  the  children  mark  down  the  notes  as  they 
sing  them  with  counters  of  the  colours  of  the  rainbow  (like  the 
six  balls  of  Gift  I.),  on  a  large  ruled  sheet. 

The  value  of  the  notes  will  be  very  quickly  learnt  by  means 
of  the  large  cube  divided  into  eight  little  ones.  When  a  whole 
note  has  to  be  sung,  the  whole  cube  is  left  standing  before  the 
child  ;  for  two  half-notes  the  cube  is  divided  into  two  halves ; 
and  so  on.  There  is  no  easier  and  more  simple  way  of  teaching 
children  what  is  otherwise  so  difficult  for  them  to  acquire,  viz., 
a  conception  of  the  value  of  notes.  In  the  first  games  with 
balls,  too,  the  chord  of  colour  (two  primary  colours  and  one 
composite  one)  is  connected  with  the  musical  chord,  and  there 
are  other  exercises  of  the  same  kind. 

In  order  to  develop  the  ear  in  a  natural  manner  it  is  neces- 
sary, as,  indeed,  it  is  in  all  training,  to  begin  in  the  simplest  and 
most  gradual  way  :  the  little  exercises  for  the  finger-pianoforte 
are  a  good  example  of  the  right  mode  of  proceeding.  The 
finger- practice  connected  with  these,  and  the  hand-gymnastics 
in  the  "  Mutter  u.  Koselieder  "  generally,  are  by  no  means  useless 
in  facilitating  the  mechanical  part  of  all  instrumental  playing. 
But  they  serve  also  to  direct  the  child's  attention  early  to  the 
art  of  music,  and  to  stimulate  the  will  and  the  desire  to  learn 
it.  The  vocal  exercises  begun  in  the  first  years  of  the  child's  life 
should  be  continued  without  interruption,  unless  considerations 
of  health  make  it  impossible.  All  children,  even  musically 
ungifted  ones,  may  have  their  voices  and  ears  cultivated  to  a 
certain  extent.  It  is  often  falsely  assumed  of  people  that  they 
are  entirely  without  musical  capacity,  whereas  their  deficiency 
in  this  respect  arises  really  from  the  lack  of  any  musical  culture 
or  stimulus  in  their  childhood.  Musical  geniuses  cannot  cer- 
tainly be  produced  by  cultivation  any  more  than  geniuses  of 
other  kinds  ;  but  every  soundly-constituted  child  can  be  trained 
to  a  certain  cjgree  of  musical  sensibility,  and  also  to  some 
degree  of  technical  proficiency.  And  it  is  most  important  that 
all  children  should  receive  a  greater  or  less  amount  of  musical 
training,  in  order  that  in  the  absence  of  any  other  elevating 


The  Child's  First  Relations  to  Mankind.         153 

tastes,  they  may,  at  least,  be  capable  of  the  enjoyment  of  the 
art  which  more  than  any  other  roases  the  higher  emotions  of 
the  soul. 

Drawing 

should  be  made  one  of  the  earliest  occupations  of  children,  for  it 
is  the  art  in  which  they  may  the  most  easily  become  themselves 
productive.  There  is  scarcely  a  child  who  will  not  at  a  very 
early  age  begin  to  draw  shapes  in  the  sand  with  his  fingers,  or  a 
^)iece  of  stick,  or  any  instrument  that  comes  in  his  way;  or  else 
he  will  sketch  with  his  fingers  the  outlines  of  tables,  chairs,  &c. 
In  this  way  he  fixes  objects  more  easily  in  his  memory. 

Frobel's  plan  for  assisting  the  child's  instinctive  efforts  in 
this  direction  is  to  strew  some  sand  on  the  table,  or  on  a 
wooden  board,  and  then  to  guide  the  little  hand  in  drawing  the 
outlines  of  things  in  the  room  ;  in  this  way  the  child's  eye  will 
accustom  itself  to  compare  the  real  objects  with  the  outlines, 
and  to  regard  the  picture  as  a  symbol  of  the  object.  The  hiero- 
glyphics used  in  the  earliest  ages  of  civilization  to  convey  ideas 
were  nothing  more  than  outlines  of  things,  from  which  by 
degrees  letters  were  developed.  And  with  children,  too,  pictures 
should  precede  letters,  and  drawing  come  before  writing,  that  is 
to  say,  outline  drawing.  A  child's  eye  can  at  first  only  discern 
the  outlines  of  things,  not  the  filling  in  and  the  details.  In  the 
drawings  of  the  ancient  Egyptians,  too,  we  find  nothing  but 
outlines,  and  those  generally  straight  ones ;  there  is  very  little 
attempt  at  curved  lines,  which  mark  a  higher  development  of 
the  sense  of  beauty. 

Frobel's  method  of  linear  drawing,  which  forms  one  of  the 
chief  occupations  in  Kindergarten,  exactly  meets  this  want,  and 
enormously  facilitates  the  right  apprehension  of  form,  size,  and 
number.  Before  the  child  is  able  to  draw  with  a  pencil,  little 
sticks  about  the  size  of  lucifer  matches  are  given  to  it,  and 
with  these  it  is  taught  to  lay  out  the  principal  lines  of  different 
objects.  In  this  way  its  mind  becomes  stored  with  a  variety  of 
shapes  and  images,  and  not  only  is  the  foundation  thus  laid 
for  later  artistic  culture,  but,  still  more,  Frobel's  first  principle 
of  education  is  carried  out,  viz.,  "  to  train  children  through  the 


154  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

encouragement  of  original  activity  to  become  themselves  cre- 
tive  beings."  His  oft-repeated  saying,  "  Let  it  be  onr  aim  that 
every  thongbt  should  grow  into  a  deed, "can  only  be  realized  by 
humanity  if  indolence  is  as  far  as  possible  suppressed  in  the 
cradle.  The  fact  has  not  hitherto  been  grasped  that  even  in  the 
cradle  it  is  necessary  to  regulate  activity  ;  still  less  has  it  been, 
thought  possible  to  do  this.  Frobel's  "  Mutter  u.  Koselieder " 
gives  the  clue  to  how  it  may  be  done,  and  it  is  for  this  reason 
that  the  book  has  an  important  bearing  on  the  whole  of  his 
system,  and  that  we  have  given  it  so  much  consideration. 

Children  should  not  be  content  with  merely  taking  in  and 
thus  collecting  in  their  minds  a  confused  mass  of  forms  and 
images  which  remain  as  useless  as  dead  ballast.  The  impres- 
sions that  are  received  within  should  be  reproduced  without. 
This,  too,  is  what  the  child  itself  wishes  to  do,  only  it  lacks  the 
means  and  the  power.  Any  one  who  watches  children  looking 
out  of  a  window  will  see  how  eagerly  their  eyes  follow  the 
people  and  animals  passing  in  the  street ;  how  they  notice  every 
little  detail  of  the  opposite  houses,  of  the  carriages  and  horses, 
of  the  dress  of  human  beings.  If  a  slate  should  chance  to  be 
at  hand  a  few  strokes  drawn  on  it  will  serve  to  represent  houses, 
animals,  men  and  women,  &c. ;  or  vivacious  children  will  try  to 
imitate  the  movements  they  observe.  The  imitative  instinct  is 
the  first  spur  to  activity.  But  even  suppose  the  child  to  be  sup- 
plied with  the  necessary  materials — which  most  children  are 
not — he  will  still  be  unable  to  reproduce  the  objects  as  he 
would  like  because  he  cannot  draw.  He  will  soon  grow  tired  of 
making  meaningless  lines  and  scratches,  and  will  give  himself 
up  to  staring  vaguely  out  into  the  street;  and  his  mind  will  soon 
become  so  inert  that  he  will  scarcely  distinguish  one  thing  from 
another. 

This  is  one  of  a  thousand  examples  of  the  little  help  and 
encouragement  that  is  given  to  childish  activity,  and  of  the 
almost  systematic  manner  in  which  natural  quickness  is  stifled, 
and  indolence  allowed  to  grow  into  habit  and  inclination.  Ever- 
lasting cramming,  first  through  the  eyes  and  ears,  then  through 
the  understanding — learning,  endless  learning,  is  almost  all 
that  is   thought  of ;    doing  is  quite    an  unimportant  matter  t 


The  Child's  First  Relations  to  Mankind.         155. 

Frobel's  plan,  however,  is  quite  the  opposite  one  :  he  would 
have  nothing  seen  or  heard,  nothing  learnt,  without  being  in 
some  form  or  other  given  out  again — reproduced — and  thus 
made  the  individual  property  of  the  recipient.  And  he  puts 
before  us  the  means  of  cultivating  this  artistic  activity  both  by 
early  training  in  drawing  and  also  in  construction  of  all  sorts. - 
In  his  "  Menschen-Erziehung  "  he  says  :  "  The  capacity  for  draw- 
ing is  as  much  inborn  in  a  man  as  the  power  of  speech,  for  word 
and  symbol  belong  to  each  other  as  inseparably  as  light  and 
shade,  day  and  night,  body  and  soul." 

The  balance  between  productiveness  and  receptivity  is  at  pre- 
sent completely  upset,  and  requires  to  be  re-adjusted.  This  will 
be  accomplished  when  Frobel's  method  has  become  recognised, 
and  children  are  taught  in  their  earliest  years  by  means  of 
individual  experience  and  production,  and  action  is  made  the 
foundation  and  the  constant  companion  of  learning;  when, 
in  short,  children  are  made  to  act  according  to  the  rules  of 
morality  before  they  can  possibly  know  them ;  instead  of,  as  is 
universally  the  case  at  present,  knowing  the  rules  without  being 
able  to  act  according  to  them. 

With  the  help  of  the    above  examples  we  have  now  gone- 
through  the  principal  relations  in  which  the   child  stands  to 
human  society,  viz.,  his  relations  to  the  family  and  household, , 
to  industry,  to  trade,  and  to  art. 

By  means  of  the  exercises  of  which  we  have  given  examples 
the  general  powers  of  thought  are  called  into  play,  and  thus 
a  foundation  is  laid  for  later  study.  By  familiarizing  children 
with  the  relations  of  words,  number,  shape,  and  size  in  their 
most  elementary  form,  and  by  drawing  their  attention  to  the 
causes  of  the  effects  perceived  by  them  in  Nature,  and  their  own 
surroundings  {see  examples  in  "  Mutter  u.  Koselieder  "),  a  way 
is  opened  up  for  the  later  study  of  science  as  could  not  possibly 
be  otherwise  done  in  the  period  of  unconscious  existence. . 
Nature,  that  is  to  say,  the  whole  visible  world  and  the  impres- 
sions it  produces,  is  the  basis  of  all  science  and  all  thought, 
the  first  awakener  of  the  desire  for  knowledge.  Impressions 
arouse  observation,  observation  brings  images  before  the  mind 


156  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

and  induces  comparison,  and  from  comparison  result  conclu- 
sions and  judgment.  And  let  it  be  well  remembered  that  it  is 
in  early  childhood  that  the  strongest  impressions  are  produced 
on  human  beings. 

Agriculture  and  the  care  of  animals  were  considered  under 
the  head  of  relations  to  Nature. 

And  now  will  any  one  still  ask,  "  What  does  all  this  matter 
to  the  young  child ;  who  understands  nothing  w^hatever  about 
the  relations  of  human  life  ?  "  Will  mothers  still  be  of  opinion 
that  the  meaning  of  nursery-rhymes  and  games  is  of  little 
importance  so  long  as  children  are  amused  by  them  ? 

Those  who  still  think  in  this  way  have  certainly  not  grasped 
the  leading  idea  of  Frobel's  educational  theory,  viz.,  that  child- 
hood, as  embryo  humanity,  must  express  one  and  the  same 
nature  in  all  its  stages  of  development,  however  great  the 
difference  in  degree  of  development  and  in  mode  of  expres- 
sion. The  child  is  the  embryo  man,  i.e.,  is  destined  to  attain 
to  conscious  existence.  Whatever  human  society  has  given 
birth  to  in  the  course  of  its  development  must  have  existed  in 
embryo  in  its  infancy — States  and  Churches,  and  all  the  insti- 
tutions and  organizations  of  civilized  life.  These  all  appeared 
at  first  in  the  crudest  possible  shapes — in  fact  in  childish 
shapes  ;  and  childhood  in  its  "  unconscious  actions  "  can  do 
no  more  than  express  these  beginnings  of  human  existence, 
just  as  all  young  animals  exhibit  in  their  gambols  the  mode  of 
life  of  their  tribe. 

Children,  of  course,  do  not  and  cannot  understand  the  philo- 
sophy of  the  "  Mutter  u.  Koselieder,"  but  the  games  and  rhymes 
produce  on  them  impressions  which  rouse  them  to  observation 
of  their  surroundings.  Children  will  always  be  receiving 
impressions  of  some  sort  which  will  help  to  determine  their 
development,  and  it  is  the  business  of  education  so  to  regulate 
these  impressions  that  they  may  contribute  to  right  and  natural 
development. 

If  this  theory  of  the  necessary  continuity  between  the  life  of 
childhood  and  that  of  manhood  be  not  accepted,  and  the  con- 
sequent logic  of  making  the  first  instinctive  utterances  the 
■  starting-point  of  education,  Frobel's  system  must  of  course  lose 


The  Child's  First  Relations  to  Mankind.         157- 

all  its  signification,  and  his  ideas  seem  very  far-fetched  and 
void  of  all  connection  with  such  little  simple  games  as  the 
"  Mutter  u.  Koselieder  "  and  many  other  books  of  the  kind 
contain.  Neither  in  such  a  case  can  there  be  any  question  of 
a  plan  of  education  proceeding  continuously  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  child's  life ;  for  if  the  beginning  of  life  does  not 
correspond  to  the  end — if  Nature,  speaking  through  the  child's 
instinctive  utterances,  cannot  be  taken  as  a  guide  in  this  matter 
— we  are  left  without  any  certain  guide  at  all,  or  any  starting- 
point. 


158  A  New  Method  of  Education. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE    child's    first   RELATIONS    TO    GOD. 

Fr6bel*s  principle,  that  whatever  is  evolved  in  the  course  df 
the  development  of  any  human  being  is  inherent  in  the  human 
race  and  has  its  root  in  inborn  dispositions,  is  also  applicable 
with  regard  to  man's  relations  to  the  highest  Being.  The 
belief  in  God,  in  the  Divine,  is  also  inborn,  intuitive,  and  can 
be  developed  in  every  child.  As  all  spiritual  development,  all 
consciousness,  has  to  be  evolved  from  dim  undefined  feelings 
and  sensations,  so  is  it  with  the  consciousness  of  God.  But 
also,  as  no  faculty  whatever  can  be  developed  without  stimulus 
from  outside  and  without  appropriate  means,  so  with  respect 
to  belief  in  God  there  must  come  both  to  humanity  and  to 
childhood  some  communication,  some  revelation  from  without, 
which  shall  convert  the  unconscious  yearnings  into  conscious 
apprehension,  supply  a  channel  for  the  feelings,  and  give  a 
definite  form  to  the  vague  intuitive  faith. 

But  how  can  God  reveal  Himself  to  the  young  child  ?  Is  this 
possible  in  the  first  years  of  life  ?  It  may  truly  be  said  that 
"childish  unconsciousness  is  rest  in  God,"  it  is  inseparableness 
from  God.  But  that  which  is  inseparable  from  ourselves  can- 
not become  objective  to  us,  for  we  cannot  place  opposite  and 
outside  us  what  is  part  of  us.  The  child  cannot  take  cogni- 
zance of  himself — is  not  as  yet  a  personality  ;  he  is  one  with  all 
that  surrounds  him  and  that  he  is  related  to.  Hence  Frobel 
says,  "  The  child  is  at  unity  with  Nature,  Avith  mankind,  and 
with  God."  He  lives  still,  as  it  were,  in  Paradise,  as  in  the  age 
before  discord  had  entered  the  world,  before  there  was  division 
between  man's  outward  and  inward  nature.  He  cannot  be 
•expected  to  have  anything   like    religion,  for   the  essence  of 


The  Child's  First  Relations  to  God.  159 


religion  is  striving  after  nnion  with  God,  and  we  do  not  strive 
after  that  which  we  already  possess.  Bat  at  the  moment  when 
the  child  first  sins  against  what  is  good,  that  is,  against  God, 
the  unconscious  union  ceases,  and  division  or  discord  begins. 

With  nothing  and  nobody  in  the  visible  world  is  the  child 
so  closely  united  as  with  its  mother,  and  therefore  Frobel  gives 
as  motto  to  one  of  the  little  games  in  the  "  Mutter  u.  Kose- 
lieder"  (the  one  called  Kinder  ohne  Harm),  of  which  the 
accompanying  illustration  represents  a  mother  praying  by  the 
side  of  her  sleeping  children : 

"  Glaube  dass  durch  gates  was  du  denkst, 
Du  zum  guten  friih  dein    Kind  schon  lenkst  ; 
Dai's  was  sich  in  deinem  Herzen  regt, 
Auch  des  Kindes  Seele  mitbewegt. 
Und  nichts  Bess'res  kannst  du  ihm  verleili'ii, 
Als  im  Einklang  mit  der  AUheit  sein. 

**  Believe  that  by  the  good  that's  in  thy  mind 
Thy  child  to  good  will  early  be  inclined  ; 
By  every  noble  thought  with  which  thy  heart  is  fired, 
Thy  child's  young  soul  will  surely  be  inspired. 
And  canst  thou  any  better  gift  bestow, 
Than  union  with  the  Eternal  one  to  know  ?  " 

The  mother's  moods  communicate  themselves  instinctively  to 
the  child  :  for  instance,  she  is  frightened  by  something,  and  the 
■child,  without  knowing  the  cause  of  her  alarm,  at  once  takes 
fright  also.  This  immediate  rapport  and  connection  between 
them  shows  itself  in  the  most  different  ways,  and  is  at  any  rate 
not  more  wonderful  than  the  influence  which  the  mother's 
moral  dispositions  and  affections  exercise  on  her  infant  even 
before  its  birth.  In  like  manner  may  the  mother's  piety  affect 
the  character  of  her  child  both  before  and  after  its  birth. 

"  The  most  delicate,  the  most  difficult,  and  the  most  impor- 
tant part  of  the  training  of  children,"  says  Frobel,  "  consists 
in  the  development  of  their  inner  and  higher  life  of  feeling  and 
of  soul,  from  which  springs  all  that  is  highest  and  holiest  in 
the  life  of  men  and  of  mankind  ;  in  short,  the  religious  life, 
the  life  that  is  at  one  with  God  in  feeling,  in  thought,  and  in 
action.     When  and  where  does  this  life  begin  ?     It  is  as  witn 


i6o  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

the  seeds  in  spring  :  they  remain  long  hidden  under  the  earth 
before  they  become  outwardly  visible.  It  is  as  with  the  stars  of 
heaven,  which  astronomers  tell  us  have  shone  for  ages  in  space 
ere  their  light  has  fallen  on  our  eyes. 

We  know  not,  then,  when  and  where  this  religious  develop- 
ment, this  process  of  reunion  with  God,  first  begins  in  the 
child.  If  we  are  over-hasty  with  our  care  and  attention  the 
result  will  be  the  same  as  with  the  seedling  which  is  exposed 
too  early  and  directly  to  the  sun's  heat,  or  to  the  moisture 
of  rain.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  we  are  behindhand,  the  con- 
sequences will  be  equally  fatal. 

What  then  must  education  do  ?  It  must  proceed  as  gently 
and  gradually  as  possible,  and  in  this  respect,  as  with  all 
other  kinds  of  development,  work  first  only  through  general 
influences.  As  the  child's  physical  condition  is  healthily  or 
injuriously  affected  by  the  badness  or  goodness  of  the  air 
which  it  breathes,  so  will  the  religious  atmosphere  by  which 
it  is  surrounded  determine  its  religious  development. 

Example  does  not  work  only  like  so  many  facts  or  actions 
inciting  to  imitation  :  quite  young  children  cannot  understand 
these  facts;  as  such,  they  have  no  relation  to  them  and  no 
meaning  for  them,  and  in  most  cases  they  are  not  able  to 
imitate  them.  But  the  character  of  their  surroundings  will 
act,  as  it  were,  magnetically  upon  them,  the  influence  of 
moods  and  affections  will  pass  directly  into  their  souls. 

How,  then,  at  this  tender  age  can  religious  feelings  be  cul- 
tivated ?  Music  will  always  find  its  way  to  the  human 
spirit,  and  will  produce  impressions  even  on  quite  little 
children.  Children,  savages,  and,  indeed,  all  uncultivated 
human  beings,  are  much  more  easily  moved  to  cheerfulness 
by  lively  music,  and  to  earnestness  by  serious  music,  than 
are  more  reasonable  and  thinking  people,  who  do  not  give 
themselves  up  to  every  passing  impression.  Divine  service 
without  music  would  be  very  cold  and  barren.  Almost 
every  one  must  occasionally  have  experienced  the  power  of 
fine  church  music,  or  of  the  simplest  chorale  on  an  organ,  to 
rouse  him  out  of  even  the  most  irreligious  mood,  or  to  stir 
in  him  a  spirit  of  devotion.     And  in  the  same  way  influences 


The  Child's  First  Relations  to  God.  i6i 


may  be  brought  to  bear  on  yonng  children  which  shall  at  any 
rate  correspond  to  their  dim  innate  sensations,  which  are  the 
precursors  of  religious  devotion.  Frobel  recommends  mothers 
to  sing  choral  melodies  to  their  children  on  their  going  to  sleep 
and  on  their  awakening.  To  sing  children  to  sleep  is  already  a 
universal  custom,  but  there  should  be  a  more  frequent  use  of 
sacred  music,  whether  in  singing  or  in  playing  on  an  instrument, 
such  as  the  harmonica,  which  Fiobel  recommends. 


Next  to  the  influence  of  music  comes  that  of  gesture  and 
expression,  the  earliest  of  all  languages,  and,  therefore,  that  which 
appeals  most  readily  to  children.  Gesture  is  the  direct  expres- 
sion of  the  soul's  mood  ;  animals,  savages,  and  children,  who 
are  incapable  alike  of  dissimulation  and  of  self-control,  invari- 
ably make  use  of  this  language.  Frobel  would  have  the 
gesture  which  is  expressive  of  inward  collectedness,  viz.,  the 
folding  of  the  hands,  applied  to  children  when  going  oft*  to 
sleep — as  soon,  that  is  to  say,  as  their  little  hands  are  capable 
of  the  action.  Prayer  is  the  highest  expression  of  the  inner 
gathering  up  of  all  the  powers  of  the  soul,  and,  demands  the 
deepest  concentration  of  spirit,  and  the  outward  symbol  or 
gesture  of  folding  together  the  hands,  which  are  now  no  longer 
to  be  occupied  wdth  external  things,  is  in  true  correspondence 
with  the  inner  meaning.  And  here  again  Frobel's  theory  of 
the  analogy  between  physical  and  spiritual  activity  is  borne 
out. 

At  first  the  mother  should  pray  at  her  children's  bedside  as 
they  go  to  sleep,  and  as  soon  as  they  themselves  can  speak  they 
should  repeat  the  prayers  after  her.  But  if  this  exercise  is  not 
to  degenerate  into  a  mere  parrot-like  repetition  without  under- 
standing, the  child  must  be  able  to  concentrate  its  spirit,  and 
the  words  of  the  prayers  must  be  in  close  relation  to  the 
child's  experiences  and  feelings.     The  mother  should  be  able  to 

M 


1 62  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

draw  out  these  feelings.  She  should  recapitulate  to  him,  for 
instance,  when  he  is  lying  in  his  little  bed,  and  all  around  is 
quiet  and  peaceful,  the  pleasures  and  the  blessings  which  he  has 
enjoyed  during  the  day,  and  excite  in  him  a  feeling  of  gratitude 
towards  all  those  who  have  contributed  to  his  happiness,  and 
finally  lead  his  mind  up  in  thankfulness  to  the  great  Griver  from 
whom  all  good  things  come.  In  such  a  mood  as  this,  the  simple 
words,  "  Dear  Father  in  heaven,  I  thank  thee !  "  will  be  a  real 
prayer. 

If  the  child  has  been  guilty  of  any  naughtiness  during  the 
day  the  recapitulation  of  all  the  little  events  of  the  day  will 
help  him  to  detect  how  he  came  to  commit  the  fault,  whatever 
it  may  have  been.  The  sorrow  expressed  by  his  parents  at  his 
naughtiness  will  make  him  unhappy,  and  when  the  mother 
says :  "  You  have  grieved  us,  your  parents,  very  much,  but  you 
have  grieved  your  Heavenly  Father  much  more  ;  you  must  pray 
to  Him  for  forgiveness,  and  ask  Him  to  help  you  to  be  a  better 
child,"  the  childish  petition  for  forgiveness  will  be  a  true  prayer, 
a  real  motion  of  the  spirit.  Frobel  relates  of  one  of  his  pupils, 
a  boy  of  five  years  old,  that  as  one  evening  he  (Frobel)  was 
saying  his  prayers  with  him,  the  boy  asked  him  to  repeat  another 
prayer,  in  which  were  the  words,  "  when  I  am  naughty,  forgive 
me,  &c.,"  and  that  when  he  came  to  this  passage,  the  child's 
voice  trembled,  and  became  scarcely  intelligible,  thus  showing 
plainly  that  he  was  conscious  of  some  naughtiness  committed 
during  the  day. 

If  only  more  pains  were  taken  in  education  to  cultivate  the 
right  and  sensitive  feelings  of  children,  or  at  any  rate  not  to  put 
out  of  tune  the  pure  tone  of  their  conscience,  how  great  might 
be  the  gain  to  morality  ! 

There  is  scarcely  any  way  in  which  greater  harm  may  be  done 
than  by  allowing  the  holy  name  of  God  to  be  desecrated  on 
children's  lips  through  meaningless  babbling,  as  in  the  mechani- 
cal repetition  of  prayers  learnt  by  rote,  which  is  part  of  the 
order  of  the  day  for  children.  It  is  hoped  that  children  will  be 
made  pious  in  this  way,  but  the  very  opposite  result  is  produced, 
for  it  becomes  a  habit  with  them  to  approach  their  Maker 
through  outward  forms  only,  without  that  inner  uplifting  of  the 


The  Child's  First  Relations  to  God.  163 

soul,  that  outpouring  of  the  heart  before  God,  which  alone 
constitute  true  and  eft'ectual  prayer. 

Modern  charitable  institutions,  those  especially  in  which  the 
religious  element  is  made  the  principal  one,  fail  most  lament- 
ably in  this  respect.  All  reasonable  people  are  fully  aware  that 
Bible  history,  the  book  of  Grenesis,  the  Ten  Commandments,  the 
Catechism,  and  all  dogmas  whatsoever,  are  entirely  beyond  the 
comprehension  of  children  between  the  ages  of  two  and  six. 
Nevertheless,  in  the  majority  of  such  institutions  all  these  sub- 
jects are  taught  to  young  children,  and  though  it  is  true  that 
an  attempt  is  made  to  treat  them  in  a  childlike  manner,  it  would 
be  better  if  it  were  realized  that  in  no  form  whatever  can  they 
be  made  intelligible  to  young  children. 

The  idea  which — most  often  unconsciously — lies  at  the  root  of 
this  practice  is  that  the  relations  of  the  human  race  to  God,  and  to 
the  highest  things,  should  be  presented  to  the  child  in  historical 
sequence  (that  of  a  monotheistic  philosophy,  moreover,  be  it 
noted)  from  the  creation  of  man  to  his  redemption  by  Christian 
truth.  That  in  this  way  the  child  will  become  acquainted  with 
the  continuity  of  human  development  in  the  past  and  the  present. 
And  all  this  must  be  done  hecattse  the  development  of  children 
corresponds  to  the  development  of  the  human  race. 

Now  this  is  the  very  idea,  as  has  over  and  over  again  been 
pointed  out,  which  forms  the  pivot  of  Frbbel's  whole  system ; 
but  he  has  discovered  a  system  by  means  of  which  the  child  is 
prepared  for  future  understanding  of  religion,  and  by  which  his 
own  religious  feelings  are  awakened.  And  this  is  all  that  is 
possible  in  early  childhood !  Instead  of  presenting  children, 
in  the  old-fashioned  way,  with  a  completely  formulated  system 
of  truth,  Fiobel  aims  at  awakening  and  cultivating  their  organs, 
so  that  with  the  help  of  fitly  corresponding  impressions  from 
without,  religious  belief  and  aspirations  may  grow  and  develop 
in  their  souls  ;  in  no  other  way  can  religion  ever  become  a  real 
possession,  a  distinct  and  living  conviction. 

I  once  heard  Frobel  say :  "  If  the  Creator  of  the  world  were 
to  say  to  me,  '  Come  here,  and  I  will  show  to  you  the  mysteries 
of  the  universe :  you  shall  learn  from  me  how  everything  hangs 
together  and  works  ; '    and,  on  the  other  hand,  a  grain  of  sand 

M  2 


1 64  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

were  to  say,  *  I  will  show  yon  how  I  came  into  existence,'  I 
should  ask  of  the  Creator  to  let  me  rather  go  to  the  grain  of 
sand,  and  learn  the  process  of  development  from  my  own 
observation." 

In  these  words  Frobel's  deepest  conviction  is  expressed,  that 
it  is  only  by  his  own  individual  activity  and  exertions,  rising 
gradually  from  the  least  to  the  greatest,  that  man  himself  can 
be  developed. 

It  is  high  time  verily  that  religion  should  come  to  be  looked 
upon  as  the  inalienable  property  of  each  human  being,  as,  indeed, 
beseems  the  full-grown  and  conscious  soul,  if  the  irreligiousness 
of  our  day  is  not  to  increase  and  spread.  And  whence  springs 
this  want  of  religion  but  from  the  fact  that  the  majority  of 
human  beings  bring  with  them  out  of  their  childhood  nothing 
more  than  a  religion  learnt  by  rote,  which,  owing  to  the  want 
of  understanding  of  its  dogmas,  kills  instead  of  giving  life. 

One  example  from  a  pauper  institution  out  of  hundreds  that 
might  be  given  will  here  suffice  to  show  that  children  do  not 
understand  the  religious  instruction  that  is  imparted  to 
them. 

It  was  the  evening  of  Christmas  Day,  and  the  festival  was 
being  celebrated,  as  usual,  with  a  Christmas-tree.  The  children 
were  all  assembled  together,  and  a  considerable  number  of 
parents  and  of  patrons  of  the  institution  were  also  present. 
After  the  customary  singing  out  of  hymn-books,  little  adapted 
to  the  children's  capacity,  stories  of  the  birth  of  Jesus  Christ,^ 
of  the  adoration  of  the  magi,  of  Christian  doctrine,  of  the 
sacrificial  death  of  Christ,  &c.,  were  related  to  the  children, 
and  printed  questions  were  asked  them  to  which  they  gave 
answers  learnt  by  heart.  Then  a  little  girl  of  five  years  old 
was  mounted  on  a  chair  to  represent  the  mistress,  and  a  learned 
disputation,  got  up  by  heart,  was  carried  on  between  her  and 
the  other  children,  in  which  the  doctrine  of  redemption  through 
the  death  of  Christ,  the  proofs  of  the  divine  truth  of  the  Bible, 
the  sinfulness  of  human  nature,  &c.,  &c.,  were  discussed.  At 
the  end  of  the  proceedings  I  asked  a  child  of  four  years  old, 
Whose  birthday  we  were  celebrating  ?  and  received  at  once  the 
answer,  '*  I  don't  know."     I  then  asked  the  same  question  of  a 


TJie  Child's  First  Relations  to  God.  165 


•child  of  six,  wlio  answered  doubtfully,  "  My  birthday,  mother's 
birthday,"  and  seemed  trying  to  guess  whose  birthday  it  could 
be.  To  a  variety  of  questions  relating  to  the  subjects  which 
they  had  just  been  hearing  and  talking  about,  w^hich  I  asked 
of  the  elder  children,  the  answer,  "I  don't  know,"  was  almost 
always  given  with  great  inquiring  eyes ;  or  else  something  so 
utterly  wide  of  the  mark  that  it  was  easy  to  see  they  under- 
stood nothing  at  all  of  what  had  been  said.  During  the  whole 
proceedings  the  children  were  either  half  asleep,  or  else  restless 
and  inattentive,  and  taken  up  with  admiration  of  the  Christmas 
tree  and  its  load  of  pretty  things.  We  shall  have  a  word  or  two 
to  say  later,  as  to  the  manner  in  which  Frobel  would  ha^e 
this  festival  turned  to  account  for  children. 

It  stands  to  reason  that  we  do  not  intend  to  find  fault  with 
such  of  the  hymns,  narratives,  and  prayers  used  in  these  institu- 
tions as  are  adapted  to  the  stage  of  development  of  the  children. 
To  all  such  Frobel  has  given  a  place  in  his  Kindergartens. 

Nor  is  it  our  intention  to  criticize  this  or  that  tone  of  religious 
thought  w^hich  may  give  its  colour  to  education,  but  simply  to 
draw  attention  to  the  imnatural  mode  of  proceeding  as  con- 
trasted with  Frobel's  thoroughly  natural  system. 

The  most  striking  proof  that  he  has  hit  upon  the  right  plan  lies 
in  the  fact  that  all  sensible  mothers  who  have  either  thought  for 
themselves  or  been  gifted  with  a  strong  and  true  educational 
instinct  have  long  acted  on  a  similar  one.  Were  it  not  that 
such  mothers  form  a  very  decided  minority,  Frobel's  instructions 
might  be  considered  superfluous.  But  no  more  than  in  the 
political  world  one  would  think  of  assuming  that  a  few  good 
sovereigns  and  reigns  made  laws  and  constitutions  un- 
necessary, can  a  few  rational  and  gifted  mothers  do  away 
with  the  necessity  for  principles  and  methods  of  education. 
Wherever  unerring  management  or  administration,  and  universal 
application  is  in  question,  the  thinking,  conscious  mind  must 
draw  up  a  code  of  rules ;  a  right  code  for  education  can  only 
be  arrived  at  by  deducing  from  the  nature  and  character  of 
children  a  systematic  plan  capable  of  application  in  all  direc- 
tions. 

No  psychologist  has  yet  made  the  child's  soul  the  subject  of 


1 66  A  Neiv  Method  of  Education. 


such  profound  researcli  as  has  Fiobel,  nor  so  closely  drawn  the 
parallel  between  the  childhood  of  the  individual  and  that  of 
humanity ;  it  is  due  to  him,  therefore,  that  even  the  smallest 
details  should  not  be  cast  aside  as  useless  rubbish  until  their 
inner  meaning  and  principles  have  been  sufficiently  tested. 

In  considering  the  first  relations  of  the  child  to  Nature  we 
pointed  out  how  the  impressions  and  the  observation  of  Nature 
should  lead  him  up  to  the  Creator.  In  the  chapter  headed 
"  The  Child's  Utterances,"  we  glanced  at  the  analogy  which 
exists  between  the  religious  awakening  of  the  child  and  that  of 
infant  humanity.  By  all  the  impressions  that  come  to  him 
through  Nature,  whether  pleasing  or  terrifying,  delightful  or 
awe-inspiring,  the  undeveloped  human  being  is  unmistakably 
pointed  to  a  Higher  Power  on  which  his  existence  depends.  The 
language  of  Nature  responds  to  that  inner  yearning  of  the  soul 
which  compels  man  to  search  for  the  Author  of  his  own  being 
and  of  everything  that  he  perceives  around  him.  This  acknow- 
ledgment (at  first  only  a  vague  foreboding)  of  God  as  the 
Creator,  or  the  revelation  of  God  in  the  visible  world,  must  not 
only  precede  the  recognition  of  God  in  the  historical  deA;elop- 
ment  of  humanity,  it  must  also  be  experienced  by  the  child. 
Children  have  no  point  of  comparison  whereby  to  connect  the 
narrative  of  the  history  of  creation  with  the  knowledge  of  the 
Creator.  Neither  are  the  unaided  impressions  which  they 
receive  for  themselves  from  the  free  life  of  Nature  sufficient. 
The  only  way  in  which  they  can  be  led  to  know  God  as  Creator 
is  through  their  own  occupations  in  Nature,  through  the  culti- 
vation of  the  soil,  on  a  miniature  scale — in  short,  through  per- 
sonal activity  and  experiences,  as  humanity  in  the  beginning  of 
its  existence  found  out  God. 

The  following  example  taken  from  a  Kindergarten  will  help 
to  illustrate  our  meaning.  Two  little  girls  of  four  and  five  years 
old  shared  between  them  a  flower-bed  in  the  Kindergarten,  and 
in  this  bed  they,  like  the  rest  of  the  children,  had  sown  a  few 
peas  and  beans.  Day  by  day  they  would  grub  up  the  earth 
with  their  little  hands  in  order  to  see  why  the  seeds  did  not 
come  up.     With  disconsolate  faces  they  used  to  look  at  their 


The  Child's  First  Relations  to  God.  167 

little  neighbours'  beds,  where  tiny  green  seedlings  were  seen 
peeping  above  the  ground.  It  was  explained  to  them  that  if 
they  wished  for  the  same  result  in  their  beds  they  must  leave 
off  raking  up  the  earth  and  wait  patiently  for  the  seeds  to  ger- 
minate. And  now  on  their  daily  visits  to  their  gardens  the  chil- 
dren might  be  seen  exercising  patience  and  self-control,  while 
refraining  from  grubbing  the  earth  up.  At  last  one  morning 
they  were  found  kneeling  down  by  their  flower-beds  and  gazing 
with  wonder  and  delight  at  a  few  little  green  blades. 

This  process  of  the  vegetable  world  had  already  gone  on 
frequently  under  their  eyes,  but  hitherto  unnoticed  by  them, 
because  they  themselves  had  not  taken  the  personal  part  in  it 
of  sowing  and  watching.  It  cannot  be  often  enough  repeated 
that  in  early  childhood  nothing  will  make  a  lasting  impression 
in  which,  the  child  itself  does  not,  in  some  way  or  other,  take 
an  active  part,  in  which  its  hands  are  not  more  or  less  brought 
into  play.  And  it  is  chiefly  for  this  reason  that  Frobel's  hand- 
gymnastics  are  of  such  importance.  Children  always  require 
practical  demonstration,  material  proof,  to  enable  them  to 
apprehend  abstract  truth.  The  truth  does  not  thereby  cease 
to  be  abstract  and  spiritual ;  scientific  truths  proved  by  physical 
experiments  must  still  be  apprehended  by  the  mind,  although 
through  the  medium  of  the  eyes.  The  more  truths  of  every 
kind  are  presented  to  children  in  a  corporeal  or  symbolic  fcrm, 
so  much  the  greater  will  their  power  of  spiritual  or  abstract 
apprehension  be  in  after  years,  for  they  will  have  vivid  images 
in  their  minds,  and  not  merely  a  stock  of  statements  learnt  by 
heart.  Again  and  again  we  must  repeat  that  in  early  childhood 
all  instruction  which  is  conveyed  solely  in  words  is  as  good  as 
thrown  away.  The  human  mind  in  the  first  stage  of  its  develop- 
ment must  have  concrete  demonstration ;  ideas  must  be  presented 
to  it  in  visible  images. 

The  universal  mind  of  humanity  developed  itself  in  like 
manner.  Before  understanding  and  learning  could  extend  to 
details  and  thus  become  exact  science,  it  was  necessary  that  the 
influences  of  the  surrounding  world  should  awaken  general 
conceptions,  which  reproduced  themselves  outwardly  in  broad- 
featured  pictures  and  forms,  and  in  the  whole  mode  of  exist- 


1 68  A  New  Method  of  EdtLcation. 

ence;  as,  for  instance,  in  the  allegorical  world  of  gods  and 
demi-gods,  in  the  mythology  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  Not 
till  the  mind  of  humanity  had  matured  itself  could  it  grasp 
the  pure  abstract  idea  of  the  universal,  of  God  in  the  soul  and 
in  truth. 

The  two  children  at  their  flower-bed  found  themselves  face 
to  face  wdth  a  wonder  of  Nature;  only  yesterday  there  was 
nothing  visible,  and  to-day  numbers  of  little  green  leaves  were 
sprouting  above  the  ground.  The  following  dialogue  ensued : 
*'  You  see,  now  that  you  have  waited  patiently,  the  seeds  have 
come  up  ;  or  was  it  you  who  made  them  grow  ?  "  The  children 
exclaim  "No!"  "Who,  then,  has  done  it?"  "The  good 
God."  "  Yes,  the  good  God  made  the  sun  shine  so  that  the 
earth  became  warm,  and  warmed  the  seeds ;  and  then  He  sent 
dew  and  rain  to  soften  the  earth,  and  the  soft,  damp  earth 
softened  the  hard  seeds  so  that  the  little  germs  could  push 
their  way  out — as  you  saw  had  happened  to  several  of  those 
that  you  took  up  out  of  the  ground.  The  good  God  has  done 
this  to  give  you  pleasure,  as  He  does  in  so  many  other  ways. 
Will  you  not  try  to  give  Him  pleasure,  too  ?  How  can  you  do 
it  ?  "  The  children  answered,  "  If  we  are  very  good,"  and  the 
youngest  one  exclaimed,  in  a  tone  of  the  deepest  conviction, 
"  I  will  do  something  to  please  God  !  " 

Later  in  the  day,  when  the  children  were  employed  in  plait- 
ing strips  of  coloured  paper,  and  one  after  another  mentioned  the 
names  of  the  people  for  whom  their  works  of  art  were  intended, 
this  little  one  replied  to  my  question,  "  For  whom  was  hers 
destined  ?  "  "I  am  going  to  give  mine  to  God  !  "  However 
trifling  this  incident  may  seem  it  was  an  entirely  spontaneous 
expression  of  child-nature,  and  serves  to  show  how  easily  the 
higher  emotions  may  be  awakened  in  children  by  means  of 
material  facts.  For  the  development  of  religion  the  teaching 
of  visible  phenomena  must  come  before  that  of  words;  the 
Creator  must  first  reveal  Himself  in  His  visible  works  before 
He  can  be  apprehended  as  the  invisible  God  of  our  spirits. 

The  majority  of  children,  especially  in  pauper  institutions, 
are  never  encouraged  to  observe  Nature,  indeed,  scarcely  ever 
have  a  chance  of  receiving  impressions  from  Nature ;  would  it 


The  Child's  First  Relations  to  God.  169 

not  contribute  far  more  to  their  religions  development  to  take 
them  out  into  the  fields  and  lanes,  or  even  only  into  a  garden, 
and  show  them  the  Creator  in  His  works,  than  to  weary  them 
with  histories  of  the  creation,  of  the  fall  of  man,  and  all  such 
narratives  and  instruction  as  it  is  customary  to  present  to 
children,  even  in  some  of  their  games  ? 

The  preceding  remarks  apply  to  the  earliest  years  of  child- 
hood. A  little  later  on  it  is  desirable  to  teach  children  so  much 
of  the  Bible  history  as  is  suited  to  their  capacity ;  and  this  is 
done  in  Kindergartens. 

But  until  tbey  can  form  for  themselves  some  conception  of 
what  history  is,  viz.,  a  continuous  series  of  events  in  human 
life  (both  of  individuals  and  nations),  until  then  nothing  more 
must  be  communicated  to  them  from  the  history  of  mankind 
than  broad  simple  facts  which  are  in  direct  affinity  with  their 
powers  of  observation.  As  with  their  affections  so  with  their 
understanding,  they  can  only  start  from  themselves  ;  everything 
outside  them  must  be  associated  with  their  own  experiences ;  their 
own  little  past  history  with  the  events  that  mark  it  is  the  only 
-standard  they  can  go  by.  But  this  must  be  made  objective 
for  them — they  must  see  it  represented  in  pictures,  and 
we  must  make  clear  to  them  their  relations  to  events  and 
objects. 

This  it  is  that  Frobel  aims  at  in  his  "  Mutter  u.  Koselieder," 
which  he  intended  to  be  the  first  Story  and  History  Booh  for 
•children — i.e.,  the  history  of  their  own  short  'past.  The  illustra- 
tions contain  scenes  which  occur  in  the  life  of  almost  every 
-child — or,  at  any  rate,  will  occur  if  Frobel's  system  be  followed. 
As,  for  instance,  a  child  catches  sight  of  a  weather-cock ;  it  is 
put  into  its  bath ;  it  feeds  the  chickens ;  picks  flowers ;  looks 
at  a  bird's-nest ;  watches  different  handicrafts  ;  plays  the  hand- 
games  with  its  brothers  and  sisters,  or  little  friends ;  sings  little 
songs  or  draws  pictures  in  the  sand ;  its  mother  prays  by  its 
bedside ;  takes  it  out  shopping  with  her,  &c.,  &c. 

The  history  of  a  child's  own  little  life  is  easily  fastened  on 
to  these  and  such  like  pictorial  representations.  "  That's  a 
picture  of  you,"  one  ma}'  say  to  him  :  "  there  you  are  going 


I/O  A  New  Method  of  Education. 


with  your  motlier  to  see  a  bird's-nest,  or  a  poor  woman,  or  the 
coalman  in  the  wood ; "  and  so  forth.  The  most  marked  fea- 
tures of  the  child's  life,  which,  according  to  Frobel's  idea, 
should  be  fixed  in  the  mother's  mind,  must  be  woven  into  the 
pictures.  The  frequent  repetition  of  these  little  events,  in 
which  all  the  members  of  the  family,  all  the  people  and  things 
known  to  the  child,  find  their  place,  and  in  which  constant 
reference  is  made  to  Grod's  fatherly  love  and  care,  will  give  the 
child,  by  degrees,  a  picture,  on  a  scale  suited  to  his  powers 
of  apprehension,  of  the  little  bit  of  life  that  lies  behind 
him. 

"Let  a  clear  picture  of  their  past  lives,"  says  Frobel,  "be 
given  to  children,  let  them  learn  to  see  themselves  mirrored  in 
it,  and  when  they  are  grown  up  the  light  which  illumines  the 
way  behind  them  will  help  them  to  see  clearly  the  road  that 
lies  before  them ;  childhood  will  be  seen  to  be  a  connected  part 
of  all  the  rest  of  life,  and  a  distinct  conception  of  the  childhood 
of  humanity  and  of  its  connection  with  the  rest  of  history  will 
be  possible." 

In  this  manner  there  will  be  a  real  progression  from  the  near 
to  the  distant.  The  child's  mind  will  easily  pass  on  from  its 
own  little  history  and  that  of  its  family  and  surroundings  to 
the  history  of  its  nation,  which  must  first  be  presented  to  it  in 
its  broadest  facts,  embodied  in  single  marked  personalities. 
Not  until  the  mind  has  been  led  out  of  the  present,  first  into 
its  own  past  and  then  into  that  of  its  race  and  people,  will  it 
be  in  any  measure  prepared  to  be  introduced  to  the  history  of 
the  childhood  of  humanity  as  presented  to  us  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. Children  can  quite  well  wait  till  they  are  eight  or  nine 
years  old  to  begin  this  study. 

What  other  idea  is  there  at  the  bottom  of  this  more  or  less 
traditional  custom  of  making  sacred  history  the  principal  sub- 
ject of  instruction  in  childhood,  than  that  of  connecting  the 
facts  of  Divine  revelation  first  with  the  history  of  the  human 
race  and  then  with  that  of  one  nation — the  Israelites  ?  But 
even  on  the  supposition  that  there  is  anything  in  the  child's  soul 
to  which  these  universal  ideas  and  truths,  gradually  laid  hold 
of  by  the  human  race,  correspond,  the  events  of  a  distant  past^ 


The  Child's  First  Relations  to  God.  171 


which,  however  much  affinity  they  may  have  with  the  child's 
nature,  because  themselves  the  outcomes  of  a  childish  age,  appear, 
nevertheless,  in  unfamiliar  form  and  garb — these  events,  I  say, 
cannot  be  made  in  the  least  intelligible  to  children  until  their 
mental  capacities  are  so  far  developed  as  to  enable  them  to 
compare  unfamiliar  facts  with  those  that  are  familiar  to  them 
in  their  surroundings.  The  fact  is,  that  without  giving  the 
matter  any  thought,  people  assume  an  inner  conscious  life  in 
the  young  child  which  is  impossible  at  this  early  period  of  ex- 
istence. But  this  inner  life  must,  little  by  little,  be  called  forth, 
in  order  that  in  it  the  child  may  find  the  point  of  contact 
between  himself  and  the  history  of  his  race,  in  which  the  Divine 
revelation  xis  pre-eminently  embodied.  This  revelation  must 
have  appealed  to  the  soul  of  the  child  itself  before  the  most 
important  point  of  contact  with  the  universe  can  be  felt. 

The  moment  of  such  an  inner  revelation  is  like  a  flash  of 
lightning,  a  holy  shower  of  emotions,  which  cannot  be  called 
up  at  will,  and  which  is  generally  hidden  from  every  eye.  An 
influence  of  Nature,  a  great  joy,  or  the  first  anguish  of  the 
soul,  a  look,  a  word,  a  mere  nothing,  will  often  recall  it,  and  it 
disappears  again  like  lightning ;  but  the  impression  has  been 
made,  the  Divine  revelation  has  taken  shape  in  the  child's  soul. 
For  example,  a  child  of  three  years  old  who  was  being  ill-used 
by  its  nurse  wanted  to  complain  to  its  mother,  but  the  latter 
being  absent  the  child  exclaimed :  "  Father  in  heaven,  tell 
her ! "  This  was,  perhaps,  its  first  cry  for  help  to  God. 
The  injustice  of  man  drives  the  human  soul  to  seek  a  higher 
refuge. 

All  that  education  can  do  in  this  respect  is  to  furnish  oppor- 
tunities and  means  of  preparation  for  this  sacred  moment,  and  to 
see  that  its  impression  be  not  eifaced.  For  this  purpose  Frobel's 
educational  system,  the  beginnings  of  which  are  contained 
in  the  "  Mutter  u.  Koselieder,"  is  specially  adapted ;  there  is 
scarcely  a  single  song  in  the  book  which  does  not,  indirectly, 
at  any  rate,  point  to  God  as  the  all-loving  and  all-protecting 
father.  The  child's  physical,  mental,  and  spiritual  natures  are 
all  fused  in  one,  and  must,  therefore,  be  nourished  with  food 
suited  to  this  threefold  nature. 


%72         .  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

The  "Mutter  11.  Koselieder,"  for  instance,  makes  use  of  tlie 
^ame  Brod  oder  Kiichen  hacken  "  Baking  bread  or  cakes," 
in  the  following  sense.  When  the  child  goes  through  the 
action  of  baking  he  is  told  that  the  baker  cannot  bake  the 
bread  unless  the  miller  has  ground  the  flour ;  that  the  miller 
cannot  grind  the  flour  unless  the  farmer  brings  him  corn,  and 
that  the  farmer  will  not  have  any  corn  unless  Grod  makes  it 
grow,  &c.  Every  little  incident  can  be  used  to  refer  all  things 
to  God  as  their  first  cause. 

Yes,  every  occupation  which  fixes  the  child's  attention  forms 
part  of  the  general  preparation  for  that  closest  kind  of  atten- 
tion which  we  call  concentration,  and  without  which  religious 
devotion  is  impossible.  And  because  the  attention  of  young 
children  cannot  be  kept  fixed  for  any  length  of  time  unless 
their  hands  are  also  employed,  every  one  of  the  hand-employ- 
ments in  Frobel's  system  helps  at  the  same  time  to  cultivate  the 
power  of  concentration. 

And  all  work,  too,  all  exercises  which  awaken  the  active 
powers  which  form  the  capacity  for  rendering  loving  services  to 
fellow-creatures,  will  help  to  lay  the  groundwork  of  religion  in 
the  child.  The  awakening  of  love  goes  before  that  of  faith  :  he 
who  does  not  love  cannot  believe,  for  it  is  love  that  discovers 
to  us  the  object  or  the  being  worthy  of  our  faith.  Loving 
self-surrender  to  what  is  higher  than  ourselves — to  the  Highest 
of  all — is  the  beginning  of  faith.  But  love  must  show  itself  in 
deeds,  and  this  will  be  impossible  unless  there  be  a  capacity  for 
doing.  A  child  can  no  more  be  educated  to  a  life  of  religion 
and  faith  without  the  exercise  of  personal  activity  than  heroic 
deeds  can  be  accomplished  with  words  only. 

The  religious  difficulties  of  our  day  will  never  find  their  solu- 
tion till  Christianity  has  been  made  a  religion  of  action  as  well 
as  of  profession,  and  to  effect  this  we  need  a  generation  trained 
for  Christian  action. 

If  we  consider  what  in  point  of  fact  is  done  during  the  first 
six  years  of  life  to  promote  religious  development  we  are 
obliged  to  confess,  either  nothing,  or  else,  we  may  almost  say, 
worse  than  nothino-. 


The  Child's  First  Relations  to  God.  175 

Now  this  period  of  tlie  first  six  or  seven  years  is  regarded  not 
only  by  Frobel,  but  also  by  many  other  educationalists  before  and 
after  him,  as  the  one  in  which  the  germs .  of  all  knowledge  and 
action,  i.e.,  of  the  whole  of  civilized  human  life,  are  set.  Art 
and  science  cannot  be  practised  before  the  requisite  oro'ans  have 
been  called  into  play.  So  long  as  the  child  is  incapable  of  any 
higher  sensations  than  those  which  relate  to  his  immediate  wants, 
of  any  degree  of  inner  concentration,  or  of  the  slightest  effort 
to  lift  himself  out  of  and  beyond  what  most  closely  surrounds 
him,  so  long  there  can  be  no  question  for  him  of  religious  prac- 
tice, of  devotion  and  self-surrender  to  the  Highest.  That  for 
which  the  child  has  yet  no  organs  of  reception  does  not  even 
exist  as  far  as  he  is  concerned.  And  while  this  is  the  case,  of 
what  use  would  it  be  to  him  to  know  every  syllable  of  Holy 
Writ  and  all  the  commandments  of  the  world  ?  We  might  as 
well  at  once  adopt  the  method  of  a  certain  sect  of  Christian 
fanatics,  w^ho  place  Scriptural  pictures  before  the  cradles  of 
children  only  a  few  months  old,  and  read  out  to  them  the  cor- 
responding passages  from  the  Bible,  with  the  idea  that  the 
infants  will  thus  be  early  initiated  into  the  truths  of  Christian 
revelation. 

The  only  grain  of  truth  at  the  bottom  of  all  these  customs  is 
just  what  Frobel  has  fastened  upon  and  turned  to  a  right  in- 
stead of  a  mistaken  use  :  viz.,  that  the  sensitiveness  of  young 
children  to  impressions  from  their  surroundings  should  be  made 
use  of  to  assist  in  their  development. 

We  have  already  seen  what  are  Frobel's  ideas  with  regard 
to  the  religious  training  of  children,  what  importance  he  at- 
taches to  the  use  of  simple  sacred  music,  and  to  the  mother's 
example  of  reverence  and  devotion  ;  how  he  would  have  the 
prayerful  spirit  awakened  by  the  symbolic  gesture  of  fold- 
ing the  hands,  and  prayer  itself  taught  as  soon  as  speech  be- 
gins, to  which  the  singing  of  hymns  should  soon  follow ;  and, 
added  to  all  this,  how  much  he  relies  on  the  hallowing  influence 
of  impressions  from  Nature  combined  with  suitable  illustrations 
from  the  lips  of  the  mother  or  other  guardians. 

Is  not  this  enough  during  the  first  five  or  six  years  of  a 
child's  life  ? 


'174  A  N^"^  Method  of  Education. 


Some  people,  no  doubt,  will  think  this  too  much,  but  to  such 
we  can  only  say  that  whatever  nourishment  the  child's  own 
nature,  physical,  mental,  or  spiritual,  requires,  it  must  be  good 
for  it  to  have,  and  it  cannot  have  too  soon  :  and  any  one  who 
rightly  understands  observing  children  will  not  fail  to  discover 
amongst  their  other  wants  a  necessity  for  the  knowledge  of  God, 
and  this  necessity,  being  the  highest  of  which  the  human  soul  is 
capable,  should  before  all  things  be  satisfied. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  those  who  will  require  some 
more  direct  and  positive  allusion  to  Christianity  and  Church 
worship  and  doctrines.  Now,  although  all  people  in  any  degree 
acquainted  with  the  nature  of  children  must  allow  that  during 
the  first  six  or  eight  years  there  can  be  no  question  of  any  real 
apprehension  of  doctrinal  religion,  that  whilst  the  development 
of  the  organs  is  still  going  on,  nothing  more  can  be  done  than 
to  awaken  religious  feeling  and  implant  purely  elementary 
and  general  conceptions,  at  the  same  time  the  youngest 
children  cannot  fail  to  be  influenced  by  the  doctrinal  tendency 
of  their  surroundings ;  and  here  the  matter  should  be  allowed 
to  rest  during  the  first  six  years  at  any  rate,  for  the  soil 
must  first  be  prepared  before  the  seed  can  germinate.  The 
Kindergarten  system  dispenses  with  all  doctrinal  teaching  and 
confessions  of  faith,  and  if  we  look  at  God's  method  of  dealing 
in  the  education  of  mankind,  do  we  not  see  that  there 
was  a  gradual  preparation  of  the  world  for  the  reception  of 
Christianity  ? 

At  the  same  time,  we  would  not  be  understood  to  say  that  all 
direct  allusion  to  Church  matters  and  (in  Christian  families)  to 
Christianity,  should  be  entirely  excluded  during  these  first  few 
years.  Frobel's  "  Mutter  u.  Koselieder  "  is  intended  to  embrace 
the  germinal  points  of  all  human  culture,  and  Church  worship 
and  doctrine  cannot,  therefore,  be  altogetL  .r  ignored  in  the  book ; 
but  in  this,  as  in  many  other  cases,  the  allusions  are  so  slight 
that  to  outward  observers  they  are  almost  imperceptible,  and 
are  only  truly  intelligible  to  those  who  see  clearly  the  connection 
between  the  little  and  the  great,  between  the  physical  and  the 
spiritual  in  the  human  soul,  as  clearly  and  distinctly  as  Frobel 
saw  through  the  mind  and  spirit  of  the  child. 


The  Child's  First  Relations  to  God.  175 

Tlie  example  in  the  "  Mutter  u.  Koselieder  "  whicli  first  directs 
the  child's  attention  to  Church  worship  is  called  " — 

THE    CHURCH   DOOR    AND  WINDOW. 


Motto  :     Where  harmony  in  unison  is  shown, 
Alike  in  form  and  tone  made  known, 
The  infant  mind  doth  readily  embrace  it, 
And  in  its  deepest  mysteries  doth  trace  it. 
To  guide  thy  darling's  earliest  perception. 
Of  this  high  unison  to  form  conception  ; 
And  thus  of  joy  to  catch  the  brightest  gleams, 
feo  hard  a  t-isk  will  not  be  as  it  seems. 
Yet,  for  thyself,  in  all  thy  works  take  care, 
That  every  act  the  highest  meaning  bear  ; 
Thus  shalt  thou  lead  it  to  that  haven  blest. 
Wherein  its  infant  heart  shall  be  at  rest ; 
And  nought  can  e'er  deprive  it  of  the  benison, 
Of  being  ever  with  itself  in  unison. 
If  this  belief  thou  to  thy  child  impart. 
It  aye  will  thank  thee  with  a  joyful  heart  ; 
Think  not  'tis  yet  too  young  this  truth  to  prize, 
Within  its  little  heart  a  magnet  lies, 
Which  draws  it  on  to  union's  highest  joys, 
And  shows  how  severance  sweetest  bliss  destroys. 
Wouldst  thou  unite  thy  child  for  aye  with  thee, 
Then  let  it  with  the  Highest  One  thy  union  see. 

A.  Q. 

SONG. 

Behold  this  window  of  clear  glass, 
Through  which  the  blessed  light  doth  pass. 
And  see  the  high-arched  door  below, 
Through  which  into  the  church  we  go. 
But  those  who  fain  would  enter  there. 
Must  come  with  reverence  and  care. 


1/6  A  Nezu  Method  of  Education. 


For  all  that  deeply  moves  the  heart, 
Within  these  sacred  walls  has  part ; 
Here  all  our  high  desires  are  stilled, 
Our  deepest  longings  are  fulfilled  ; 
We  hear  of  God,  so  good  and  true, 
And  of  the  blessed  Christ-child  too ; 
And  those  dim  yearnings  are  made  plain, 
Which  oft  with  wonder  fill  your  brain  ; 
When  you  behold  the  heavens  wide, 
Or  in  your  parents'  love  confide. 
And  you,  my  child,  shall  go  one  day 
To  hear  the  deep-toned  organ  play  : 
Lo,  lo,  la  ;  la,  lu,  lu,  la ! 
While  of  bells  the  joyful  peal 
Doth  unceasing  joys  reveal  1 
Ding,  dong,  bell, 
Ding,  dong,  bell. 

Through  our  ears  it  moves  our  hearts, 
Oh  what  gladness  it  imparts  ! 
La,  lu,  la  ;  La,  lu,  la,  la  ;  La,  lu,  lo. 

A.  G. 

The  mother,  with  her  two  or  three-jear-old  infant  on  her  lap, 
sits  at  the  window  on  Sunday  morning,  points  to  the  church 
which  the  people  are  flocking  into,  and  makes  the  child  repre- 
sent with  his  hands  the  shape  of  the  church  window.  She  then 
sings  to  him  the  above  chorale,  at  the  end  of  which  the  pealing 
of  bells  is  imitated. 

The  following  example  will  show  that  something  like  a  devo- 
tional mood  may  really  be  produced,  even  in  so  young  a  child, 
through  the  influence  of  sacred  music,  and  of  its  mother's  frame 
of  mind. 

In  Frobel's  room  one  day  there  were  assembled  a  number  of 
children  between  the  ages  of  one  and  a  half  and  four  years,  all 
busily  occupied  with  the  Kindergarten  gifts.  A  visitor  wha 
chanced  to  come  in  ventured  to  question  Frobel's  assertion, 
that  a  feeling  of  reverence  could  be  called  up  in  even  the 
youngest  of  these  children.  In  order  to  prove  his  statement, 
Probel  called  on  some  of  his  older  pupils  to  sing  the  chorale 
given  above,  and  it  was  curious  to  see  how  one  after  another 
the  children  put  down  their  playthings  and  listened  to  the- 
music  with  wide  open  eyes,  and  an  expression  of  almost  holy 


TJie  Child's  First  Relations  to  God. 


// 


reverence  on  their  little  countenances.  Now  it  is  certain  that 
no  result  of  the  kind  is  ever  produced  bj  the  kind  of  religious 
instruction  which  is  so  common  in  institutions,  and  even  in 
families,  and  which,  with  the  best  desire  to  produce  piety,  only 
tends  to  make  sacred  things  wearisome  to  children. 

As  is  signified  in  the  motto  annexed  to  the  "Church 
Window,"  Frobel  sees  the  first  direct  expression  of  the  child's 
religious  instinct  in  its  eager  desire  for  fellowship.  In  the 
chapter  on  "  The  Child's  Utterances  "  it  was  pointed  out  that  the 
irresistible  impulse  of  children  to  hasten  to  any  spot  where  they 
see  a  number  of  people  collected  together  in  earnest  consultation, 
or  where  a  crowd  is  assembled  for  a  common  object,  is  only  ;iart 
of  the  strong  necessity  of  their  nature  to  be  in  sympatiietic 
union  with  those  around  them.  It  is,  so  to  say,  a  surrender  of 
their  being  to  something  outside  their  own  personality,  to  a 
universal  power  which  is  beginning  to  make  itself  daily  felt  in 
their  souls.  And  what  else  is  true  religion  but  a  complete 
surrender  of  self  to  the  Highest  Being  ? 

It  is,  however,  necessary  that  the  Being  to  whom  one  thus 
surrenders  one's  self  should  be  loved.  Before  a  child  can  love 
the  invisible  God  he  must  love  visible  human  beings.  For 
the  child,  as  once  for  humanity,  Grod  must  become  man ;  and 
this  must  first  be  through  the  child's  parents.  The  first  condi- 
tion of  all  religion  is  that  we  should  come  out  of  the  narrow 
circle  of  egotistic  self-love  ;  and  therefore  love  for  its  parents, 
as  the  first  representatives  of  God,  is  for  the  child  the  beginning 
of  love  for  God. 

In  all  primitive  religions  sacrificial  offerings  play  a  principal 
part,  and  it  is  because  the  offerings  signify  the  giving  up  of 
self,  of  the  personality.  If  the  child  is  made  to  feel  the  conse- 
quences of  such  surrender  in  the  piety  ©f  its  parents  and  others, 
in  their  manifest  union  with  God,  the  unconscious  union  of 
his  own  inner  life  with  the  Highest  will  gradually  develop  into 
a  greater  or  less  degree  of  consciousness.  His  own  dormant 
religious  faculties  will  awaken  if  he  sees  similar  faculties 
actively  expressed  by  those  around  him. 

Children  thus  brought  up  in  a  truly  religious  atmosphere, 
accustomed  to  refer  every  duty  fulfilled  towards  man,  every 

N 


178  A  New  31  ft  hod  of  Education. 

service  of  love,  every  trifling  action  of  daily  life,  to  God  as  the 
highest  power,  who  requires  of  ns  good  in  every  shape,  such 
children  will  when  they  are  grown  up  make  their  lives  a  con- 
tinuous active  expression  of  Christian  love,  and  not  merely  carry 
Christianity  about  on  their  lips— as  is  too  often  the  case  at 
present. 

First,  then,  God  must  become  more  or  less  objective  to  the 
child  through  Nature,  and  then  He  must  be  personified  for  him 
in  man. 

Just  as  mankind  needed  the  personification  of  the  Divine  in  a 
complete  and  perfect  man  whom  it  might  follow  as  its  pattern 
and  ideal,  so  the  child  needs  a  personal  example.  But  a  full- 
grown  perfect  being,  such  as  Christianity  recognizes  in  Jesus 
Christ  as  man,  cannot  serve  as  a  pattern  for  children.  They 
must  have  placed  before  them  an  ideal  suited  to  their  stage  of 
development — a  Divine  Child.  Hence  Frobel  would  have  hung 
up  in  Kindergartens  and  in  nurseries  pictures  of  the  child 
Jesus  on  his  mother's  lap,  in  the  Temple,  &c.  All  the  good 
qualities  of  children  he  would  have  associated  in  their  minds 
with  the  Holy  Child,  and  whenever  they  do  wrong  he  would 
have  them  reminded  that  when  Jesus  was  a  child  he  was  always 
obedient,  thankful,  loving,  and  so  forth. 

In  this  way,  by  means  of  the  facts  and  events  of  their  own 
lives,  inward  and  outward,  associated  always  with  Jesus 
as  a  child,  children  will  acquire  a  perfect  living  ideal  of 
childhood  by  which  they  will  become  accustomed  to  measure 
themselves,  and  with  the  aid  of  suitable  Bible  narratives 
they  will  be  gradually  and  naturally  initiated  into  the  central 
truth  of  Christianity — of  God  made  manifest  in  man — without 
having  their  understandings  bewildered  with  dogmas,  which 
can  only  be  grasped  by  the  mature  mind.  Ideas  of  which  the 
child  can  form  to  itself  no  conception  are  worse  than  useless 
to  him,  for  they  hinder  the  clearness  of  his  mental  vision 
and  thus  act  injuriously  on  his  development. 

Pictures  and  facts  appeal  to  the  childish  imagination,  and 
Frobel  would  have  the  religious  instruction  of  children  based 
also  on  this  principle.     For  this  purpose  he  revived  the  old 


The  Child's  First  Relations  to  God.  179 

custom  of  exhibiting  to  children  on  Christmas  evening  a 
pictorial  representation  of  the  birth  of  Christ.  Middendorf 
used  often  to  tell  how  impressive  this  festival  was  wont  to  be 
at  Keilhau,  when  at  the  end  of  the  long  room,  filled  with 
brightly-lighted  Christmas-trees,  and  presents  of  all  sorts  for 
the  children,  a  transparency  would  all  at  once  appear,  repre- 
senting the  birth  of  the  Divine  Child  surrounded  by  green  pine 
branches;  how  Christmas  hymns — most  of  them  written  by 
Frbbel  himself — were  then  sung  ;  and  how  Frobel  used  him- 
self to  fetch  the  poor  women  of  the  village  with  their  youngest 
children,  so  that  these  too  might,  as  he  used  to  put  it,  have 
a  "  distinct  impression "  of  the  meaning  of  Christmas.  To 
the  older  children  it  was  explained  in  simple  language  that 
this  festival  was  to  remind  people  of  the  birth  of  Jesus  Christ, 
who  had  redeemed  them  from  sin  and  error  and  brought  back 
great  happiness  to  the  world. 

It  all  depends  upon  the  manner  in  which  religious  impressions 
are  conveyed  to  children  whether  they  will  have  a  sacred 
influence  on  them  in  the  present,  and  be  a  blessed  recollection 
in  the  future. 

The  profound  truths  of  the  Gospel  are  far  beyond  the  com- 
prehension of  children,  but  for  this  very  reason  the  preparation 
of  their  minds  to  receive  them  later  cannot  begin  too  soon. 
All  truths  which  take  shape  in  the  world  are  the  blossoms  of 
plants  whose  seeds  were  sown  thousands  of  years  ago,  and 
have  gone  on  germinating  for  centuries  before  they  could 
spring  up  in  the  mind  of  humanity  and  bear  flowers  and  fruit. 
And  the  same  process  which  has  gone  on  in  the  life  of  humanity 
goes  on  in  that  of  the  individual,  beginning  in  infancy.  All  ideas 
and  conceptions,  and,  therefore,  also  all  religious  conceptions, 
have  their  origin  in  the  first  impressions  made  on  the  senses, 
in  the  first  childish  imaginations,  the  first  observations  and 
comparisons  of  objects  in  the  outer  world.  All  the  faculties  of 
the  soul  must  be  cultivated  up  to  a  certain  point  if  the  human 
spirit  is  to  become  capable  of  union  with  the  Divine  Spirit. 

Our  hopes  for  a  new  and  living  conception  of  Christianity 
rest  on  our  children.     If  we  can  only  preserve  to  them  the  fresh- 

N  2 


I  So  A  New  Method  of  Education. 


aess  and  simplicity  of  their  early  innocence,  tlieir  hearts  will 
remain  open  to  the  pure  and  childlike  spirit  which  breathes  in 
the  writings  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  and  Bible  truths 
will  no  longer  be  to  them  as  petrified  fossils  of  a  bygone  age. 
[f  they  have  grown  up  in  loving  fellowship  and  community, 
which  is  the  true  church  for  children,  they  will  be  able  to 
carry  out  the  deepest  meaning  of  th^  Gospels,  viz.,  the  brother- 
hood of  men,  and  the  conception  of  Divine  humanity  and 
human  divinity  will  become  a  reality  to  them. 

The  right  form  of  a  church  service  for  children  has  yet  to  be 
discovered,  but  the  Kindergarten  meanwhile  offers  all  the 
necessary  elements  for  the  purpose.  The  churches  of  grown-up 
people  are  certainly  not  the  places  for  children.  If  momentary 
feelings  of  devotion  are  produced  in  their  minds  by  the  general 
stillness,  the  music,  the  number  of  people  collected  together, 
these  cannot  last,  and  are  quickly  followed  by  distraction 
and  weariness,  for  the  service  is  too  long  for  the  children's 
powers  of  attention  and  beyond  their  understanding. 

And  this  does  not  only  apply  to  children  before  the  age  of 
ten ;  even  at  a  later  age  their  powers  of  religious  apprehension 
are  not  on  a  level  with  those  of  grown  people.  A  boy  of  eleven 
years  old,  on  being  once  asked  what  was  the  subject  of  a  sermon 
he  had  just  heard,  answered,  "  The  reconciliation  of  Christ," 
because  the  preacher  had  frequently  alluded  to  the  work  of 
reconciliation.  When  the  boy  was  further  asked  the  meaning 
of  this  word,  he  could  not  answer  at  all. 

So  it  is  in  the  majority  of  cases :  children's  minds  are 
crammed  full  of  expressions  with  which  they  connect  no  meaning. 

We  give  as  a  last  example  from  the  "  Mutter  u.  Koselieder '' 
the  hand-game  called 


THE   FOOT-BRIDGE. 
Motto :      "Let  thy  child  in  play  discover 
How  to  bridge  a  chasm  over. 
Teach  it  that  human  skill  and  strength 
"Will  always  find  some  means  at  length 
Things  most  widely  severed  to  connect — 
Union,  where  it  seemed  most  hopeless,  to  effect." 


The  Child^s  First  Relations  to  God.  i8i 


SONG. 

Along  the  meadow  flows  a  brook, 

A  child  stands  by  it  with  longing  look  ; 

He  sees  bright  flowers  on  the  other  side, 

But  can't  get  to  them — the  stream's  so  wide. 

**  On  your  back,  take  me  over,"  he  cries,  to  a  duck, 

"Those  lovely  flowers  I  want  to  pluck  !  " 

Then  up  came  a  man  with  a  wooden  plank, 

He  laid  it  across  from  bank  to  bank  ; 

Safely  along  it  the  little  boy  ran, 

Crying — *'  Thank  you,  oh  thank  you,  you  kind  clever  man  1' 


Tf  ysj  such  and  similar  examples  children  have  been  made 
to  understand  the  meaning  of  connecting  together,  or  recon- 
ciling, things  that  are  separated  ;  if,  according  to  Frobel's  sys- 
tem, they  have  been  constantly  occupied  in  their  own  little 
labours  in  connecting  (or  reconciling)  opposites,  the  application 
of  the  word  "reconciliation"  to  visibly  separated  objects  will 
have  become  quite  familiar  to  them,  and  it  will  not  be  difficult 
to  explain  to  them  later  the  meaning  of  the  Christian  doctrine  ; 
especially  as  they  will  also  have  become  familiar,  through  a 
variety  of  examples  and  applications,  with  the  analogies  be- 
tween the  visible  physical  world  and  the  spiritual  one. 

That  such  teaching  by  analogy  or  parables  is  necessary  for 
the  comprehension  of  spiritual  truths  is  shown  by  the  fre- 
quent use  of  it  in  the  Gospel  itself.  But  to  many  of  our  readers 
this  comparison  between  the  connecting  together  of  physically 
separated  things  and  the  union  or  reconciliation  of  individual 
imperfect  men  with  God  through  the  perfect  and  Divine  man, 
will  seem  as  far-fetched  as  the  analogies  in  other  cases  that  we 
have  quoted.     It  is,  however,  the  fate,  not  only  of  new  theories* 


1 82  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

but  also  of  new  embodiments  of  old  theories,  to  produce  t\ie 
impression  of  exaggeration  and  eccentricity,  and  so  it  must  be 
with  Frobel's  theory  of  the  analogy  between  the  outer  and  the 
inner  world  and  between  physical  and  spiritual  impressions, 
until  by  frequent  repetition  and  practical  application  it  has 
become  familiar  to  the  world. 

Any  one  who  observes  the  present  methods  of  bringing  up 
children,  and  considers  what  it  is  that  the  latter  really  want, 
must  be  of  opinion  that  there  is  need  for  greater  attention  to- 
the  beginnings  of  moral  deflection  and  the  early  cultivation  of 
religious  feeling. 

Children  can  no  more  become  religious  by  their  own  unaided 
powers  than  they  can  become  anything  else  that  is  desirable  for 
them.  The  fact  that  early  religious  teaching  has  hitherto  been 
conducted  in  a  mistaken  and  senseless  manner  does  not  prove 
that  it  cannot  be  done  in  a  right  and  profitable  way.  This,  how- 
ever is  beyond  all  question,  that  unless  education,  and  especially 
early  education,  be  established  on  a  right  religious  basis,  tha 
next  generation  will  be  the  most  godless  that  has  ever  lived  on 
earth,  more  dissatisfied  and  melancholy  even  than  the  present  one, 
and  just  as  little  able  to  solve  the  great  problems  of  the  day. 

Veritable  progress  for  mankind  as  a  whole  is  unthinkable  if 
religion  be  left  out  of  account.  The  extension  of  material 
knowledge,  the  widening  of  man's  relations  to  nature  and  to 
humanity  in  social  and  communal  respects  necessitates  a  corre- 
sponding expansion  in  our  relation  to  God  and  all  that  is  highest. 
It  is  still  not  sufficiently  understood,  that  while  on  the  one- 
hand  religion  and  Christian  truth  must  in  their  essential 
character  remain  always  the  same,  our  apprehension  of  them 
must  continually  increase  and  expand  until  we  come  to  realize 
their  connection  with  every  department  of  life.  Whoever  will 
not  agree  to  this  must  also  consider  the  Reformation  as  unjus- 
tifiable. 

Not  until  men  have  gained  for  themselves  the  recognition  of 
an  all-pervading  omnipresent  God,  a  firm  central  point  round 
which  their  whole  being  will  revolve,  in  which  laws,  politics, 
science,  art,  and  all  social  endeavours  will  culminate,  not  till 
then  shall  we  see  a  regenerated  society  which,    cemented  to- 


The  Child's  First  Relations  to  God.  183 


gether  in  love,  will  realize  the  true  conception  of  Immanity, 
or  convert  into  a  living  reality  the  Christianity  which  is  now 
cramped  and  disfigured  and  deadened  by  church  system.  It  is 
grievous  to  see  how  much  outward  forms  and  dogmas  still  take 
the  place  of  true  religion  of  the  heart.  It  is  not,  however,  by 
rationalism  and  irreligiousness  that  the  degenerate  Christianity  of 
modern  times  can  be  conquered,  but  by  a  new  generation  which, 
itself  filled  full  with  the  true  spirit  of  the  Divine  Teacher,  shall 
let  this  regenerating  power  stream  forth  through  society. 

The  religious  conflict  of  the  present  day  has  its  meaning  and 
its  use,  and  will  bring  forth  fruit  in  the  future ;  but  it  must  be 
kept  as  much  as  possible  removed  from  our  children.  If  they 
are  to  be  capable  in  time  to  come  of  restoring  harmony  to  a  world 
of  discord,  of  re-adjusting  balances  and  getting  rid  of  contradic- 
tions, their  young  spirits  must  be  left  undisturbed  to  strengthen 
and  develop,  and  must  learn  to  soar  up  in  love  and  enthusiasm 
to  the  Infinite,  and  find  their  rest  only  in  the  Highest.  Short 
of  this  there  can  be  no  real  religion,  however  much  the  intellect 
may  learn  to  speculate  concerning  spiritual  things.  True  reli- 
gion is  the  continuous  action  of  a  whole  life — a  striving  after 
God  in  all  and  everything. 

It  is  the  high  office  of  mothers  to  consecrate  their  children 
to  this  life-service,  and  Frobel  offers  them  his  "  Mutter  u. 
Koselieder"  as  a  guide  to  this  sacred  task. 


184  A  New  Method  of  Education. 


CONCLUSION'. 

The  leading  ideas  of  Fibbers  educational  system  may  be  summed 
up  in  the  following  statements  : — 

1.  The  task  of  education  is  to  assist  natural  development 
towai'ds  its  destined  end.  As  the  child's  development  begins 
with  its  first  breath,  so  must  its  education  also. 

2.  As  the  beginning  gives  a  bias  to  the  whole  after  de- 
velopment, so  the  early  beginnings  of  education  are  of  most 
importance. 

3.  The  spiritual  and  physical  development  do  not  go  on 
separately  in  childhood,  but  the  two  are  closely  bound  up  with 
one  another. 

4.  There  is  at  first  no  perceptible  development  except  in 
the  physical  organs,  which  are  the  instruments  of  the  spirit. 
The  earliest  development  of  the  soul  proceeds  simultaneously 
with,  and  by  means  of  that  of  the  physical  organs. 

5.  Early  education  mast,  therefore,  deal  directly  with  the 
physical  development,  and  influence  the  spiritual  development 
through  the  exercise  of  the  senses. 

6.  The  right  mode  of  procedure  in  the  exercise  of  these  organs 
(which  are  the  sole  medium  of  early  education)  is  indicated  by 
Nature  in  the  utterances  of  the  child's  instincts,  and  through 
these  alone  can  a  natural  basis  of  education  be  found. 

7.  The  instincts  of  the  child,  as  a  being  destined  to  become 
reasonable,  express  not  only  physical  but  also  spiritual  wants. 
Education  has  to  satisfy  both. 

8.  The  development  of  the  limbs  by  means  of  movement  is  the 
first  that  takes  place,  and,  therefore,  claims  our  first  attention. 


Conclusion.  185 


9.  The  natural  form  for  the  first  exercise  of  the  child's  organs 
is  -play.  Hence  games  which  exercise  the  limbs  constitute  the 
beginning  of  education,  and  the  earliest  spiritual  cultivation 
must  also  be  connected  with  these  games. 

10.  Physical  impressions  are  at  the  beginning  of  life  the  onlj 
possible  medium  for  awakening  the  child's  soul.  These  im- 
pressions should  therefore  be  regulated  as  systematically  as  is 
the  care  of  the  body,  and  not  be  left  to  chance. 

11.  Fiobel's  games  are  intended  so  to  regulate  the  natural 
and  instinctive  activity  of  the  limbs  and  senses  that  the  pur- 
pose contemplated  by  N^ature  may  be  attained. 

12.  Through  the  gradual  awakening  of  the  child's  will  this 
instinctive  activity  becomes  more  and  more  conscious  action, 
which,  in  a  further  stage  of  development,  grows  into  productive 
action  or  worJc. 

13.  In  order  that  the  hand — which  is  the  most  important 
limb  as  regards  all  active  work — should  be  called  into  play  and 
developed  from  the  very  first,  Frobel's  games  are  made  to  consist 
chiefly  in  hand-exercises,  with  which  are  associated  the  most 
elementary  facts  and  observations  from  Nature  and  human  life. 

14.  Inasmuch  as  in  the  human  organism,  as  well  as  in  all  other 
organisms,  all  later  development  is  the  result  of  the  very  earliest, 
all  that  is  greatest  and  highest  springs  out  of  the  smallest  and 
lowest  beginnings,  education  must  endeavour  to  emulate  this 
unbroken  continuity  of  natural  development.  Frobel  supplies 
the  means  for  bringing  about  this  result  in  a  simple  system  of 
gymnastic  games  for  the  exercise  of  the  limbs  and  senses ;  these 
contain  the  germs  of  all  later  instruction  and  thought,  for 
physical  and  sensual  perceptions  are  the  points  of  departure 
of  all  knowledge  whatever. 

1 5.  As  the  earliest  awakening  of  the  mind  has  hitherto  been 
left  to  chance,  and  the  first  instinctive  activity  of  childhood  has 
remained  uncomprehended  and  unconsidered,  there  has  of  course 
been  no  question  of  education  at  the  very  beginning  of  life.  It 
wad  Frobel  who  first  discovered  a  true  and  natural  basis  for 
infant  education,  and  in  his  "  Mutter  u.  Koselieder  "  he  shows 
how  this  education  is  to  be  carried  on,  and  made  the  foundation 
for  all  later  development. 


186*  A  New  Method  of  Education. 


It  is,  therefore,  essential  that  the  principles  and  methods  laid 
down  by  Frobel  should  be  attended  to  at  the  very  beginning  of 
education,  if  full  benefit  is  to  be  derived  from  the  Kindergarten. 

The  training  of  mothers,  and  all  who  have  the  management 
of  young  children,  in  the  application  of  Frobel's  first  principles 
of  education,  is  consequently  the  starting-point  for  the  complete 
carrying  out  of  his  system,  and  consequently,  too,  of  immense 
importance. 

The  little,  seemingly  insignificant,  games  and  songs  devised 
for  the  amusement  of  infants  are  easy  enough  for  girls  of  the 
lowest  degree  of  culture  to  master.  The  true  development  of 
women  in  all  classes  will  best  be  accomplished  through  training 
them  for  the  educational  calling,  seeing  that  Nature  has  pre- 
eminently endowed  them  for  this  work.  Simple  receipts  for  the 
management  of  health  (and,  above  all,  the  practical  application 
of  them  in  the  care  of  children)  are  also  within  the  grasp  of 
women  of  all  degrees  of  culture.  By  placing  such  instruction 
within  the  reach  of  women  of  all  classes  the  first  step  will  be 
taken  towards  the  full  and  perfect  training  of  the  female  sex,  of 
all  who  have  the  care  of  children,  of  all  future  mothers  in  all 
ranks  of  society,  for  their  educational  vocation 


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(187) 


1 88  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

The  Autobiography  of  Friedrich  F»oebel.  Translated  by 
H.  Keatley  Moore  and  Emilie  Michaelis.     12mo,  pp.  180. 

Syracuse,  1889 1.50 

[This  contains  the  "Letter  to  the  Duke  of  Meiningen,"  never 

completed,  a  shorter  account  of  his  life  in  a  letter  to  the  philosopher 

Krause,   a  sketch  of  Barop's,   and  a  chronology  extended    from 

Lange.] 

Autobiography  of  Froebel.  Materials  to  aid  a  Comprehen- 
sion of  the  Work  of  the  Founder  of  the  Kindergarten. 

16mo,  pp.  128.    New  York,  1887 30 

[This  contains  the   "Letter  to  the  Duke  of  Meiningen,"  Miss 

Lucy  Wheelock's  translation,  taken  from  Barnard's  Journal  of  Edu- 

cation.] 

Froebel's  Explanation  of  the  Kindergarten  System.  Lon- 
don, 1886 20 

Hauschmann,  a.  B.     Fr.  Froebel:  die  Entwicklung  s.  Erzie- 

hungs-idee  in  s.  Leben.     8vo,  pp.  480.     Eisenach,  1874 2.00 

Kribge,  Matilda  H.     The  Founder  of  the  Kindergarten.    A 

Sketch.     12mo,  pp.  29.    New  York 

[See  also  Marenholz-Buelow,  in  next  list  below.] 

Marenholz-Buelow,  Baroness  B.  von.  Reminiscences  of 
Friedrich  Froebel.  Translated  by  Mrs.  Horace  Mann. 
With  a  sketch  of  the  life  of  Friedrich  Froebel,  by  Emily 

Shirreff.     12mo,  pp.  359.     Boston,  1877 1.50 

[See  also  Goldammer.  Marenholz-Buelow.] 

Phelps,  Wm.  F.     Froebel  (Chautauqua  Text-Book,  No.   15). 

32mo,  pp.  54 10 

Shirreff,  Emily.  Froebel:  a  Sketch  of  his  Life,  with  Let- 
ters to  his  Wife.     12mo.     London,  1877 1.00 

[See  also  Marenholz-Buelow,  above,  and  Shirrbff,  below.] 

Bailey's  Kindergarten  System.     Boston 20 

Barnard,  Henry.  Papers  on  Froebers  Kindergarten,  with 
suggestions  on  principles  and  methods  of  Child  Culture  in 

different  countries.     8vo,  pp.  782.     Hartford,  1881 3.50 

Beesau,  Amable.     The  Spirit  of  Education.     Translated  by 

Mrs.  E.  M.  McCarthy.     16mo.  pp.  325.     Syracuse,  1881. . .   1.25 


Bibliography.  1 89 


Berry,   Ada,    and  Emily  Michaelis.    Kindergarten   Songs 

and  Games.     12mo.     London 75 

BucKLAND,  Anna.     The  Use  of  Stories  in  the  Kindergarten. 

12mo,  pp.  17.     New  York 20 

The  Happiness  of  Childhood.  12mo,  pp.  21,  in  one  vol- 
ume with  the  above.     New  York 50 

[The  two  are  reprinted  in  "  Essays  on  the  Kindergarten."  below.] 

Carpenter,    Harvey.      The    Mother's    and    Kindergartner's 

Friend.     12mo.     Boston.  1884 1.00 

Christie,  Alice  M.     See  Marenholz-Buelow,  Perez,  below. 

DouAi,  Adolf.  The  Kindergarten.  A  manual  for  the  intro- 
duction of  Froebel's  System  of  Primary  Education  into 
Public  Schools;  and  for  the  use  of  Mothers  and  Private 
Teachers.  With  16  plates.  12mo,  pp.  136.  New  York, 
1871 1.00 

DuPANLOUP,  Monseigneur.  The  Child.  Translated,  with  the 
author's  permission,  by  Kate  Anderson.  12mo,  pp.  267. 
Dublin,  1875 1.50^ 

EcKHART,  T.  Die  Arbeit  als  Erziehungsmittel.  8vo,  pp.  23. 
Wien,  1875.  .0 

Essays  on  the  Kindergarten:  being  a  selection  of  Lectures 
read  before  the  London  Froebel  Society.     12mo,  pp.  149. 

Syracuse,  1889 1.00 

[See  Buckland,  Heerwart,  Hoggan,  Shirreff.] 

Fellner,  a.  Der  Volkskindergarten  und  die  Krippe.  12mo, 
pp.  130.     Wien,  1884 

Frye,  Alex.  E.     The  Child  and  Nature,  or  Geography  Teach-         ^ 
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Goldammer,  H.  The  Kindergarten.  A  Handbook  of  Froe- 
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Hailmann,  W.  N.  Primary  Helps,  or  Modes  of  making  Froe- 
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190  A  New  Method  of  Education. 


Four  Lectures  on  Early  Child  Culture.     16mo,  pp.  74. 


Milwaukee. 50 

—  Kindergarten  Culture  in  the  Family  and  Kindergarten. 


A  Complete  Sketch  of  Froebel's  System  of  Early  Educa- 
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The  Kindergarten  Messenger  and  The  New  Education. 

Vols.  V,  VI,  [completing. the  seiies],  8vo,  2  vols.,  pp. 
146,  188.     Syracuse,  1882,  83 4.00 

Primary  Methods.  A  complete  and  methodical  presen- 
tation of  the  use  of  Kindergarten  Material  in  the  work  of 
the  Primary  School,  unfolding  a  systematic  course  of  Man- 
ual Training  in  connection  with  Arithmetic,  Geometry, 
Drawing,  and  other  School  Studies.  12mo,  pp.  166.  New 
York,  1888 1.00 

Hailmann,  E.  L.  Songs,  Games,  and  Rhymes  for  the  Kin- 
dergarten.    12mo.     Springfield 1.75 

Heerwart,   Eleonore.      Music  for  the  Kindergarten,      4to. 

London,  1877 1.25 

Froebel's  Mutter-  und  Kose-lieder.     12mo,  pp.  18 

[The  last  is  reprinted  in  "  Essays  on  the  Kindergarten,"  above.] 

Hoffmann,  H.    Kindergarten  Toys,  and  How  to  Use  Them. 

Toronto 20 

Kindergarten  Gifts     New  York 15 

HoGGAN,   Frances  E.     On  the  Physical  Education  of  Girls. 

12mo,  pp.  24 

[This  is  reprinted  in  "  Essays  on  the  Kindergarten,"  above.] 

Hopkins,  Louisa  P.  How  Shall  My  Child  be  Taught?  Prac- 
tical Pedagogy,  or  the  Science  of  Teaching.  Illustrated, 
12mo,  pp.  276.     Boston,  1887 1.50 

Educational  Psychology.     A  Treatise  for  Parents  and 

Educators.    24mo,  pp.  96.    Boston,  1886 .50 

Hubbard,  Clara.     Merry  Songs  and  Games,  for  the  use  of  the 

Kindergarten.    4to,  pp.  104.     St.  Louis,  1881 2.00 

Hughes,  James.    The  Kindergarten:  its  Place  and  Purpose. 
New  York 10 

.Jacobs,  J.  F.  Manuel  pratique  des  Jardins  d'  Enfants.  4to. 
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Bibliography.  1 9 1 


Johnson,  Anna.  Education  by  Doing,  or  Occupations  and 
Busy  Work  for  Primary  Classes.  16mo,  pp.  109.  New 
York.  1884 75 

Kindergarten  and  the  School,   by  Four  Active  Workers. 

12mo,  pp.  146.     Springfield,  1886 1.00 

KoEHLER,  A.  Die  Praxis  des  Kindergartens.  4to,  3  Vols., 
with  more  than  60  Plates.     Weimar,  1878 

The  Same,  translated  by  Mary  Gurney.     Part  I  [First 

Gifts].     12mo,  111.     London,  1877 1.25 

Kraus-Boelte,  Maria,  and  John  Kraus.     The  Kindergarten 

Guide,  illustrated.     Vol.  I  [The  Gifts].     New  York,  1880.  2.75 

The  Kindergarten  and  the  Mission  of  Women.     New 

York 10 

Kriege,  a.  L.     Rhymes  and  Tales  for  the  Kindergarten  and 

Nursery.     12mo,  New  York 1.00 

Laurie's  Kindergarten  Manual.     New  York 50 

Kindergarten  Action  Songs  and  Exercises.     London. . .     .15 

Lyschinska,  Mary.     Principles  of  the  Kindergarten.   111.,  4to, 

London.  1880 1.80 

Mann,  Mrs.  Horace.  See  Marenholz-Bublow,  above,  and 
Peabody,  below. 

Marenholz-Buelow,  Baroness  B.  von.  The  Child  and  Child- 
Nature.  Translated  by  Alice  M.  Christie.  12mo,  pp.  186. 
Syracuse,  1889 , 1.00 

The  same,  translated  as  "a  free  rendering  of  the  Ger- 
man" by  Matilda  H.  Kriege,  under  the  title  "The  Child, 
its  Nature  and  Relations;  an  elucidation  of  Froebel's 
Principles  of  Education."  12mo,  pp.  148.  New  York,  1872.   1.00 

The  School  Work-Shop.     Translated  by  Miss  Susan  E. 

Blow.     16mo,  pp.  27.     Syracuse,  1882 15 

Hand-work  and  Head-work:  their  relation  to  one  anoth- 
er. Translated  by  Alice  M.  Christie.  12mo.  London, 
1883 1.20 

Maudsley,  H.     Sex  in  Mind  and  Education.     16mo,  pp.  42. 

Syracuse,  1882 15 

Mkiklejohn,  J.  M.  D.    The  New  Education.     16mo,  pp.  35. 

Syracuse,  1881 15 

Meyer,  Bertha.  Von  der  Wiege  bis  zur  Schule.  12mo,  pp. 
180.    Berlin,  1877 


192  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

Aids  to  Family  Government,  or  From  the  Cradle  to  the 

School,  according  to  Froebel.  Translated  from  the  sec- 
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on  The  Rights  of  Children  and  The  True  Principles  of 
Family  Government,  by  Herbert  Spencer.  16mo,  pp.  208. 
New  York,  1879 1.50 

MooKE,  N.  A.  Kindergartner's  Manual  of  Drawing  Exer- 
cises for  Young  Children  upon  Figures  of  Plane  Geome- 
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MoRGENSTEiN,  Lina.  Das  Paradies  der  Kindheit.  Eine  aus- 
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Froebel's  Spiel-Beschaftigungen  in  Haus  und  Kindergart- 
en.    2d  ed.     8vo,  pp.  292.     Leipzig,  1878 

Mullet,  Jane,   and  M.  E.  Tabram.    Songs  and  Games  for 

our  Little  Ones.     12mo.     Loudon,  1881 40 

NoA,  Henrietta.     Plays  for  the  Kindergarten:  music  by  C.  J. 

Righter.     18mo.     New  York 30 

Payne,  Joseph.     Froebel  and  the  Kindergarten  System.    8d 

ed.     London,  1876 

[Now  rare,  but  printed  in  "  Lectures  on  Education,"  Syra- 
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A  Visit  to  German  Schools.    London,  1876 

Pkabody,  Elizabeth  P.  Moral  Culture  of  Infancy,  and  Kin- 
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Horace  Mann,  and  Elizabeth  P.  Peabody.  12mo,  pp.  216. 
Boston,  1863 2.00 

The  Education  of  the  Kindergartner.    Pittsburgh,  1872. 

The  Nursery:  a  Lecture 

The  Identification  of  the  Artisan  and  Artist  the  Proper 

object  of  American  Education 

Froebel's  Kindergarten,  with  a  letter  from  Henry  Bar- 
nard.    12mo,  pp.  16 

Lectures  in  the  Training  Schools  for  Kindergartners. 

12mo,  pp,  226 

[Includes  those  on  "  The  Education  of  the  Kindergartner"  and 

"  The  Nursery,"  named  above.] 

Education  in  the  Home,  the  Kindergarten,  and  the  Pri- 


Bibliography.  1 93 


mary  School.      "With    an    Introduction  by  E.   Adelaide 

Manning.     12mo,  pp.  224.     London,  1887 l.Sa 

[A  reprint  of  the  "  Lectures  in  the  Training  Schools."] 

and  Mary  Mann.  After  Kindergarten,  what  ?    A  primer 

of  Reading  and  Writing  for  the  Intermediate  Class,  and 
Primary  Schools  generally.     12mo.     New  York 45 

Perez,  Bernard.  The  First  Three  Years  of  Childhood.  Ed- 
ited and  translated  by  Alice  M.  Christie,  with  an  introduc- 
tion by  James  Sully.     12mo,  pp.  294.     Syracuse,  1889 1.50 

Plays  and  Songs,  for  Kindergarten  and  Family.     Springfield.     .50 

Pollock,    Louisa.     National    Kindergarten  Manual.     12mo, 

pp.  180.     Boston,  1889 75 

National  Kindergarten  Songs  and  Plays.     12mo,  pp.  77. 

Boston 50 

Cheerful  Echoes  ;  from  the  National  Kindergarten  for 

children  from  3  to  10  years  of  age.    16mo,  pp.  76.     Bos- 
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Preyer,  W.     The  Mind  of  the  Child.     12mo,  2  Vols.    New 

York,  1888 3.00 

Richards,   B.   W.      Learning  and  Health.      16mo,   pp.   39. 

Syracuse,  1882 15 

RiCHTER,  K.     Kindergarten  und  Schule.     Leipzig 

RoNGE,  Johann  and  Bertha.  A  Practical  Guide  to  the  Eng- 
lish Kindergarten  (Children's  Garden),  for  the  use  of 
Mothers,  Governesses,  and  Infant  Teachers :  being  an  ex- 
position of  Froebel's  system  of  Infant  Training:  accom- 
panied by  a  variety  of  Instructive  and  Amusing  Games, 
Industrial  and  Gymnastic  Exercises,  also  Numerous  Songs 
set  to  Music.  11th  ed.  4to,  pp.80,  and  71  plates.  Lon- 
don, 1878 2.10 

Shirreff,  Emily.  Essays  and  Lectures  on  the  Kindergarten. 
Principles  of  Froebel's  System,  and  their  bearing  on  the 
Higher  Education  of  Women,  Schools,  Family,  and  In- 
dustrial Life.     12mo,  pp,  112.     Syracuse,  1889 1.00 

Progressive  Development  according  to  Froebel's  Prin- 
ciples.    12mo,  pp.  14 

Wasted  Forces.     12mo,  pp.  17 

The  Kindergarten  in  Relation  to  Schools.     12mo,  pp. 


194  ^  New  MetJiod  of  Education. 

18.     New  York 30 

The  Kindergarten  in  Relation  to  Family  Life.     12mo, 


pp.  17.     New  York 30 

[The  last  four  are  given  in  "Essays  on  the  Kindergarten,"  above.] 
Home  Education  and  the  Kindergarten.     12mo.     Lon- 


don, 1884 75 

The  Kindergarten  at  Home.     12mo.     London,  1884 1.75 

—  Claim  of  Froebel's  System  to  be  called  "  The  New  Edu- 
cation."   New  York,  1882 10 

Essays  and  Lectures  in  the  Kindergarten.     New  York..     .75 

Singleton,  J.  E.  Occupations  and  Occupation  Games.    12mo, 

London,  1865 1.00 

Steele's  Kindergarten  Handbook.     New  York 60 

Steiger's  Kindergarten  Tracts.    24  nos.     New  York 10 

Straight,  H.  H.    Aspects  of  Industrial  Education.     8vo,  pp. 

12.     Syracuse,  1883 15 

Thompson,  Mrs.  Elizabeth.  Kindergarten  Homes,  for  Orphans 
and  other  Destitute  Children ;  a  new  way  to  ultimately 
Dispense  with  Prisons  and  Poor-Houses.     12mo,  pp.  128. 

New  York,  1882 1.00 

Weber,  A.     Die  vier  ersten  Schuljahre  in  Vorbindung  mit  e. 

Kindergarten.     8vo,  pp.  70.     Gotha 50 

Die  Geschichte  der  Yolksschulpadagogik  und  der  Klein- 

kindererziehung.     12mo,  pp.  339.     Dresden,  1877 

Wiebe,  E.  The  Paradise  of  Childhood.  A  Manual  for  In- 
struction in  F.  Froebel's  Educational  Principles,  and  a 
Practical  Guide  to  Kindergartners.     4to,  pp.  78  and  74 

plates.     Springfield 2.00 

The  Paradise  of   Childhood:    a  manual  of  instruction 

and  a  practical  guide  to  Kindergartners.     4to,  74  plates. 

London.  1888 4.00 

Songs,  Music,  and  Movement  Plays.     Springfield 2.25 

Wiggins's  Kindergarten  Chimes.     Springfield 1.50 

Wiltsie's  Stories  for  Kindergartens  and  Primary  Schools. 

Boston 30 

All  books  of  which  prices  are  given  may  be  had  of  the  pub- 
lisher of  this  volume. 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Action  in  place  of  abstract  learning 94 

the  keynote  of  our  age 101 

Activity  the  law  of  education ..91 

Agreeable,  beautiful,  good. , ...9 

Agriculture,  early  instincts 31,  96 

Aim  of  education 10 

"  All  things  are  parables,"  Goethe 123 

Always  a  best  way 71 

An  age  of  action 66 

Analogies  abundant  in  nature 37 

Animal  life  observed  and  imitated 121,  123 

Apotheosis  of  humanity 22,  23 

Ariadne,  thread  of 103 

Arithmetic,  first  notions  of .33,  130,  151 

Artistic  culture  begun  early 149 

Artistic  the  result  of  individuality ..63 

Asylums  not  fitted  to  rear  children 128 

fail  in  religious  training 163,  164,  168 

' '  Baking  Bread, "  game  of.. 172 

Beautiful  is  the  rhythmical 81 

Beauty  the  reconciling  of  opposites 81 

,  taste  for  developed,.. ...29 

' ,  knowledge,  practical  life 96 

,  truth,  morality 59 

Belief  dependent  on  love 172 

in  God  intuitive 158 

Bible  history  in  kindergartens _ 169,  170 

Bird  in  cage  an  educator 120 

"Birds'  Nest,"  game  of. 123 

Bodily  exertion,  need  of 26 

Body  and  spirit  both  recognized 10 

(195) 


196  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

"Bo-Peep,"  game  of 133 

Building  the  second  construction 29 

Burdach 110 

"  Carpenter,"  game  of  the 145 

Casper  Hauser 65 

Catechisms  no  food  for  children 163 

Change  of  methods  demanded 1,  3,  10 

Chief  business  of  schools 5 

Child  a  man  in  miniature .156 

of  nature,  humanity,  God 68 

"Child  and  the  Man,"  game  of 119 

Childish  instinct  becomes  conscious  action 64 

Childlike  simplicity  now  unknown 47 

Children  need  children's  companionship 34 

Christianity,  kernel  of 23 

Christmas  festivals  contrasted 164,  179 

"  Church  Door  and  Window,"  game  of ...175 

Church  services  not  for  children 180 

Circles  of  individual  and  of  humanity 81 

Civilization  based  on  beauty 80 

vs.  barbarism 4 

Clay  and  sand  work 28 

Cleanliness  and  order 113 

"Coal  Diggers,"  game  of  the ...146 

Common  impulses  of  childhood .15 

Comparison  connects  known  with  unknown. 74 

how  awakened 33 

Conclusion -. 184 

Consideration  of  outward  conditions 51 

Construction  of  habitation 145 

Continuity  in  education. 102,  113 

Counting  connected  with  sounds ..151 

a  source  of  amusement. .130 

Creation  through  activity 154 

Crying  from  want  of  connection 128 

Cube  subdivided  for  musical  notes. 152 

"Cuckoo  Game" 125 

Culture,  history  of 39 


Index.  197 

inherited ,.45 

Curiosity  a  later  development. 32 

Dangers  in  early  play 134 

David  and  Goliath .144 

Development,  definitions 41,  90,  100 

of  child's  intellect 74 

of  new  ideas 69 

Disagreeable  at  first  averted 138 

Doctrinal  religious  teaching. 174 

Doing,  handling,  thought 63 

Drawing  a  means  of  expression 155 

and  painting 29 

,  how  taught 153 

needed  in  the  trades _ 149 

Duties  and  rights  correspond 23 

Eating,  first  desires  arise  from _ 140 

how  to  regulate. 140 

Education  adapted  to  individual. 8 

definitions  of ...27,  40,  41,  78 

includes  instruction  as  part 78 

in  comparison  with  instruction.. .......43,  70,  72,  74,  94 

must  be  methodical 70 

must  be  on  religious  basis 182 

must  be  progressive 2,  44 

must  reach  beyond  the  material 147 

Enlarged  liberty  makes  new  requirements. _ 2 

Environment,  influence  of 12,  15 

Errors  in  early  physical  training 54 

"  Exercises  of  the  Limbs" 27 

Experience  instead  of  instruction .94 

Family  and  school. _. 9,  11 

Family  love  and  family  egotism 129 

' '  Farm- Yard  Gate  "  game  of 121 

Father,  mother,  child 129 

Features  of  our  age .46 

Fellowship  marks  the  higher  animals 34 

Fichte's  ''ABC  of  perception" 75 

Final  triumph  of  good  over  evil 143 


198  A  JVew  Method  of  Education. 


' '  Finger  Pianoforte, "  game  of 14& 

Firm  will  must  be  produced .75 

First  educational  requisites _ 51 

fall  of  the  child  a  crisis 133 

"  Foot  Bridge,"  game  of  the 180 

Freedom  for  development. . . .• _ 100 

possible  only  under  law. 92,  100 

Frobel  attempts  to  build  a  church. 64 

brings  Pestalozzi's  ideas  to  completion 43 

could  not  express  himself  clearly 108 

—  defines  ^e/e. 90 

derided  because  not  understood .93,  107 

,  de;'.crii>tion  of  human  nature  by. -13 

did  he  make  a  lucky  hit? 48 

first  to  base  education  on  regulated  activity.. 91 

first  to  find  key  to  children _ 23 

his  general  principles  of  education 100 

grain  of  sand  preferred  to  instruction.. 163 

his  fresh  genius  needed 10 

his  • '  ladder  of  knowledge  " .36 

his  philosophy  of  the  universe.  _ 76,  86,  87 

inventor  of  the  mother's  methods 60 

leading  ideas  of  his  system 184 

* '  mystical  "  side  of  his  theories _  .93 

not  equalled  in  analysis  of  the  child 110 

personally  out  of  harmony  as  a  chlid 82 

philosophy  based  on  triumph  of  the  good. 143 

pith  of  his  theory 70 

rules  for  inculcating  obedience 138 

sum  of  his  aims  and  efforts 43 

the  new  in  his  kindergarten  plan 101 

three  fundamental  principles 48 

• '  Matter  und  Koselieder  " 103,  105,  109,  113 

based  on  instinctive  life  of  the  child 109 

how  collected . 113 

keynote  of. 106,  123 

a  story  and  history  book 168 

lead  to  family  relationships. 129 


Index,  199 

songs  all  point  to  God.. 171 

comments  on  the  games* 

3.  Das  Thurmhdiinchen -  - .116 

5.  ScJimecldiedcTien 141 

10.  DieFiscldein -. 122 

12.  Patsclie-Kuchen -172 

13.    Vogelnest 123 

14.  Blumenkdrhclien .131 

18.    Grossmamama  and  MiLtter. 130 

19.  Beim  Bdumchen  sag*  ich  Eiiis , 130 

20.  Bas  Fingerdamer 149 

21,  Bie  Oescfiwester  oliTie  Harm 159 

22.  Bie  Kinder  auf  dem  Thurme 131 

23.  Bas  Kind  und  der  Mond, 119 

26.  Lichtmglein  an  der  Wand 118 

32.  Bas  Kdhlerhutte 146 

33.  Ber  Zimmermann 145 

34.  Ber  Steg ....180 

35.  BasIIofthor 121 

40.  Ber  TiscUer 143 

41,  Bie  Reiter  und  das  gute  Kind. 139 

42.  Bie  Reiter  und  das  misgelaunte  Kind 139 

44.    Verstecken  des  Kindes. _ 133 

45.   Guckguck ! 135 

46.  Ber  Kaufmann  und  das  Mildchen 148 

48.  KirchentMir  mit  Fenster. _ -. ...  175 

From  semblance  to  reality _ .139 

Fundamental  conditions  of  learning 66 

Genius  brings  its  own  path 65 

Geography,  first  notions  of 34 

Geometry  acquired  in  kindergarten 95 

Germanic  standard  of  education .44 

Gesture  of  inward  collectedness. .161 

*  As  the  English  translations  diffei*  much  in  their  rendering  of  the  titles  of 
these  games,  the  English  titles  used  in  this  book  are  entered  in  their  regular 
alphabetical  order,  but  the  games  are  here  entered  once  more  in  the  original 
language  and  by  the  original  number,  that  there  may  be  no  difficulty  in  find- 
ing the  explanations  when  desired. 


A  New  Method  of  Education. 


Glass  harmonicas  recommended 150 

Glorification  of  God  in  humanity 22 

God,  first  revelation  of 37 

knowledge  of.  an  early  necessity 174 

known  as  creator  through  imitation 166,  168 

,  nature,  man 89 

personified  in  man 178 

God's  providence  suggested 124 

Goethe  quoted 123 

Good  and  evil  as  opposites 80 

Grammar  essential  to  learning  language 72 

Grasping,  early  attempts  at 61 

Great  benefactors  the  children  of  God 22 

Gymnastics  for  early  years 27 

Hand,  game  for  strengthening 116 

importance  of. 147 

song  for  practice 121 

the  most  important  member 114 

the  natural  sceptre 28 

Hand-employment  fixes  attention 172 

Handgames  lead  to  family  ties 129 

Handicrafts  observed 143 

"Hands  folded  or  crossed  " 28 

Hands,  folding  of ,  a  symbol 161 

Hand-work  makes  impressions ,.  .167 

Harmonica  recommended . .  .150,  161 

Harmonious  cultivation  of  powers 4 

Harmony  from  contrasts 51 

Heaven  of  Northern  mythology 26 

History,  first  notions  of 34 

Home-life  essential  to  the  child 128 

Human  activity  vs.  that  of  animals 28 

Humanity,  man  a  child  of 15 

Humboldt,  Alexander  von,  quoted 87 

Idealism  rare  even  in  Germany 148 

Ideas  dependent  on  will 7 

Immortality  assured 21,  88 

Imparted  knowledge  received  slowly 7 


Index.  201 

Impression,  perception,  ideas,  judgment 74 

Impulse  must  be  guided - 41 

to  make  nature  productive 31 

Individual  freedom  through  freedom  of  all 44 

inclination  recognized  in  education 7 

relation  to  God  a  revelation 171 

vs.  broadly  human - 143 

vs.  universal 17 

Individuality  becomes  personality „ 15 

Infant  psychology  neglected 41,  109,  134,  165 

Inquiries  of  children  neglected 33 

Instinct  of  childhood  insufficient 27 

of  ownership 31,  146 

Instincts  all  have  an  end 37 

must  be  guided 39 

Instruction  must  be  methodical 42 

vs.  education 43,  74,  94 

Intellectual  development  has  dangers 5 

Interchange  of  matter 86 

Intimations  of  immortality 21 

Irreconcilable  opposites 79 

Irreligious  feeling  spreading 3,  47 

Jenny  Lind's  musical  talent ..151 

Jesus  Christ 14,  18,  178 

"Joiner,"  game  of  the .143 

Joy,  peace,  freedom 19 

Key  to  nature  of  children 23 

Kindergarten  before  second  year 129 

from  the  outside 94 

,  the  work  of 43 

Knowledge  from  experiment 32 

of  child-nature 10 

without  practice 46 

Labor  the  destiny  of  man ...12 

Ladder  of  knowledge 36 

Law  of  balance,  contrasts,  opposites 48,  73,  82,  86,  89,  133,  144 

in  flowers 83 


202  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

Law  of  gravitation 82 

of  reconciliation 73,  89,  91,  144,  181 

Liberty  j)ossible  only  through  love 21 

Limbs,  early  development  of 112 

Lessons  from  animal  life 123 

Life  defined  as  activity 113 

defined  by  Frobel ..90 

,  love,  light ...90 

' '  Little  Fishes, "  game  of 1 22 

Lottery  in  German  kindergartens. 97 

Love  a  result  of  care o2 

begets  confidence 138 

essential  to  morality  and  culture 35 

of  man  before  love  of  God 177 

possible  only  in  liberty 21 

through  ownership 124 

Male  vs.  female  genius 67 

Man  determined  by  social  relations 38 

in  relation  to  society 9 

revolves  about  ideal  centre 8 

sovereign  over  nature 126 

the  only  progressive  animal ..- 18 

the  thought  of  God 19 

Management,  transformation,  sptritualization 1 44 

Mankind  less  happy  than  of  old 6 

Man's  origin  and  destiny 13 

Manual  and  mental  work  united 14.) 

labor,  value  of.. 143 

— '■ —  training 143 

"Market  Booth,"  game  of  the 148 

Marriage  profaned 3 

Mathematics  the  first  science 33 

"  Menschen  ErziehuiKj" 89,  155 

Mental  development  is  mental  interchange 49 

Method,  definitions  of 70 

educational  vs.  instructional .70,  72 

in  early  perception 59 

Michelet  quoted - 120 


Index.  203 

Modelling  an  early  necessity - 28 

Moral  cultivation  based  on  play 25 

development  through  obstacles 142 

through  the  senses - 140 

differences  in  children 141 

education  deteriorated -  - 46 

freedom  depends  on  early  development 135 

training  essential --- ..-75 

Morality  comes  through  action 66 

depends  on  freedom. 6 

Mother  not  supplanted  by  kindergarten 99,  103 

the  child's  first  mediator 127 

the  child's  first  central  point ..128 

the  most  important  factor ..11 

Mother's  piety  affects  the  child... 159 

prayers  by  the  bedside 161 

voice  the  voice  of  conscience 135 

Mothers  accept  the  ' '  Mutter-  unci  Koselieder  "... 109 

,  lack  of  competent  ones 23 

unfit  to  rear  children 54 

Movement  attractive  to  children 123 

games . 95 

,  not  repose  or  completion 89 

the  first  utterance 25 

Mozart's  sonatas  at  six 63 

Music  aids  in  cultivating  religion 100 

early  training  in 150 

3Iusical  notes  learned  by  colors .152 

learned  by  cubes 152 

' '  Mutter-  und  Koselieder."     See  "  Frobel." 

Mysticism  in  FrObel's  theories 93 

Nation,  idea  of,  what  based  on 31 

National  education  based  on  work 97 

kindergartens,  obstacles  to 104 

Natural  history  museum 97 

science  at  the  head  of  science 125 

Nature,  child's  first  relations  to 1 16 

,  education  dependent  on 120 


204  A  New  Method  of  Education. 

Nature  gives  law  to  art --18 

,  humanity,  God 13,  114 

,  man  a  child  of 14 

omnipresent  in  education 96 

the  basis  of  all  science- - 155 

Necessities  the  spur  to  culture 39 

Necessity  is  freedom 15 

Needle-pricks  in  the  soul - 53 

New  basis  given  to  education 110 

Nursery  games  from  maternal  instinct 113 

Obedience  of  love  begets  reverence 137 

right  vs.  wrong 137 

to  law 136 

Obscurity  in  FrObel's  language - 106 

Obstacles  to  national  kindergartens 104 

Office  of  education 2 

Offspring  of  our  environment 55 

Original  sin 10 

Outlines  of  objects  first  perceived 30 

Outward  expression  to  inward  self 66 

Overcoming  of  obstacles  a  pleasure 26 

Ownership,  early  instinct  of 31 

Pantheistic  conception  not  FrObel's 89 

Passions  expressed  are  dangerous 142 

Personal  vs.  universal  interest 80 

Personality  perverted  into  self-will 136 

Pestalozzi 110 

"ABC  of  observation" _ 75 

"Book  for  Mothers" 53,  78 

' '  Fundamental  method  of  instruction  " 11,  74,  77 

"  Only  through  the  senses" 36,  74 

"The  principle  of  the  organic  " 75 

Physical  development  the  end  of  activity 26 

education  deteriorated 46 

health  a  main  object. 95 

Play  and  laughter  connected  with  deeds... 125 

,  grown  up  people  seldom  understand 63 


Ifidex.  205 

Play  and  laughter  lead  to  first  mental  development 109 

need  of  direction  in 58,  64,  109 

the  basis  of  moral  cultivation 35 

"  the  child's  first  poetry  " 62 

the  expression  of  mankind 19 

the  "living  out"  of  impressions 62 

the  work  of  children 28 

Playful  work  and  workful  play 96 

Plays  represent  relationship 129 

Playthings,  effect  of  meaningless .57 

must  not  be  too  elaborate -.64 

Practice  without  individuality 46 

Prayer  symbolic  of  inward  gathering _ 161 

Prayers  of  the  child 162 

meaningless  forms  avoided. 162,  164 

Principles  must  be  clearly  apprehended 71 ,  93 

Problem  of  the  development  of  humanity 1 39 

Process  of  the  mind  in  reflection 72 

Progress  inevitable  and  eternal. . 22,  89 

Protection  against  evil  passions .8 

Psychological  principles 72 

Rapid  succession  of  impressions 133 

Receptivity  and  productiveness 155 

dominant  in  the  child 58 

Reconciliation  of  opposites 73,  89,  91,  144,  181 

Regard  for  opinions  of  others 138 

Religion  based  on  social  relations __35 

made  possible  by  sin 158 

means  "binding  together" 98 

must  grow  from  within 163 

the  basis  of  education 120 

the  kernel  of 21,  22 

Religious  feelings  cultivated 160 

worship  in  kindergarten 98 

Requirements  of  early  education _  .68 

Revelation  of  relation  to  God 171 

Reverence  from  obedience  of  love 137 

in  youngest  children 176 


2o6  A  JVeiv  Method  of  Education. 

Richter,  Jean  Paul 62,  110 

"  Riders  and  the  Child,"  games  of 139 

Rousseau,  Jean  Jaques ...11,  110 

Rhythm  an  early  necessity _30 

Sand  as  an  appliance  in  drawing 153 

Science  dominated  now  by  natural  science 125 

for  mothers 1 1 ,  23 

limits  of 23 

Schleiermacher 110 

Scream  the  child's  first  utterance 13 

Self,  humanity,  God .20 

Self-control  through  gardening _. 167 

only  from  exercise 32 

Self-preservation  the  first  instinct 20 

Self-reliance,  independence,  freedom 20 

Self-will  to  be  contended  with... 136 

Servants,  influence  of 54,  56,  128 

Shakspeare's  universal  traits 17 

Sin  makes  religion  possible 158 

Skill  in  handling 27 

Smile  the  first  utterance  of  love 127 

Song  arouses  devotional  instinct 98 

as  a  means  of  education 30 

Social  impulse  developed  early 34 

relations  determine  man 34 

Society  an  organism 1 

Soul  cultivated  through  the  senses 58,  120 

early  development  of 56 

Source  of  modern  evils 5 

Spartans  vs.  Athenians 56 

Spiritual  delelopment  follows  laws.. 48 

,  understanding  of 52 

Spontaneous  action  stimulated 51,  61 

activity  systematically  regulated 92 

Stael,  Madame  de,  quoted 53 

"Sun  Bird,"  game  of  the 118 

Taking  in  and  "living  out" 86,  154 

Taste,  sense  of,  to  be  cultivated .-. 140 

"  Tasting  Song,"  game  of 141 

Things  before  words 7 


Index.  207 

Thought  before  fancy  and  feelings. 46 

of  God  realized 101 

should  grow  into  deed 154 

the  connection  of  opposites 49 

Threefold  aspect  of  nature 23 

Through  nature  to  God 126 

unconsciousness  to  consciousness 102 

Toleration  from  observation  of  animals 122 

Touch  predominant  in  childhood _ .28 

Toys  liked  best  if  unfinished- 64 

Union  with  nature. 126 

Unity  always  the  great  end 134 

and  continuity  impressed 133 

in  variety.. ._..17,  85,  87 

is  God 90,  102,  119 

of  all  development ..87,  100,  102 

of  life 88 

of  masses  through  individual  development. 103 

Universal  education. 3 

exchange  of  matter. 82 

law  of  education. 82 

utterances  of  children 42 

Unnatural  discipline 101 

Utterance  of  spirit  through  the  senses 91 

Vanity,  its  dangers 138 

Verbal  instruction  too  early .7 

Vocal  music  before  instrumental ..151 

taught  continuously .152 

Walking,  first  stage  of  independence 127 

' '  Weather  Cock,"  game  of 116 

Women,  development  as  teacher 186 

emancipation  of 24 

higher  cultivation  of  _ _ ...99 

Work  ennobled 147 

for  development 100 

the  distinction  of  human  activity 28 

the  only  basis  of  moral  culture 97 

Why,  how,  wherefore  ? 19 

Why,  whence,  wherefore? ^ 32 


'UNIVBRSITTJ 


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